It might be a simple issue like ip forwarding not being enabled, or host-level iptables configuration, or perhaps weird and wonderful routing (eg. wireguard or other VPNs).
Do you have any NetworkPolicies configured that could block ingress (to kubedns, in kube-system) or egress (in your namespace) ? If any ingress or egress networkpolicy matches a pod, it flips from AllowByDefault to DenyByDefault.
You should also do kubectl get service and kubectl get endpoints in kube-system, as well as kubectl get pods | grep -i dns
I'd be surprised if it's still kubedns.. the service name is still kubedns, but there will probably be CoreDNS pods behind it. To debug this, you should first ensure that you can resolve DNS by directly pointing to an external DNS server from a pod, and then from the node if that fails. eg. dig @1.1.1.1 google.com, or host google.com 1.1.1.1. It might be a routing/firewall/nat issue more than DNS, and this would help track that down.
You want to resolve *.cluster.local addresses outside of the cluster/on your LAN, on that domain? This would only be useful if you can route to them... Right?
So... assuming you can route to them, you probably want to configure your powerdns DNS server to forward requests for this zone to the CoreDNS service in the cluster, which should have a static IP.
Congrats for waiting this long - many parents don't.
Honestly, this will depend on your child. If they are prone to addictive or obsessive behaviour, a smart phone will only amplify the tendancy. We already know how hard it is for adults to put down their phones for any length of time, and kids typically have less will power.
That said - digital communication is an important part of most people's lives now. If all her friends are using a particular app to communicate, they will "need" it too. Some parental controls would be good for the first phone -- which apps get installed, etc. Just be prepared to unlock most of them. ;-)
You might want a phone "lockbox" at home to ensure they turn off. Hopefully the school is strict about phone usage and etiquette too - it can help.
What is the typing experience that you want, and for which language(s). It's not clear to me, sorry.
It is possible to map keyboard input in various ways. For more complex use-cases, many programs support character substitution as you type (eg. gx could become ĝ automatically).
It might be a simple issue like ip forwarding not being enabled, or host-level iptables configuration, or perhaps weird and wonderful routing (eg. wireguard or other VPNs).