>So, $300 is like… low end for a good quality one?

Yes, essentially. If it's for a child, I suppose you can go a bit lower still, but keeping within the respected brands (Skywatcher, Celestron, Meade, Explorer Scientific), like this

https://www.highpointscientific.com/celestron-firstscope-76-mm-f-3-95-dobsonian-reflecting-telescope-21024

Nothing to write home about but nice and sturdy, you can mount a phone to it. It wouldn't really do planet that well (because of it's low F-ratio it's better for deep sky), but otherwise hassle free viewing. Good for young kids for when you don't know if they're really into it.

The Astromaster I've recommended is a genuinely a good telescope in your price bracket and a quite a bit more versatile than the above (would do planets while being better overall). Again, EQ mounts require a bit of learning, but they're worth it in the end.

For a complete begginer in the $300 limit I really want to recommend this

https://www.highpointscientific.com/sky-watcher-heritage-130-tabletop-dobsonian-s11705

But the struts flex too much to reliably mount even a phone, IIRC. If you can find an equivalent from the brands I mentioned earlier but with a solid tube. Then you'd just have a choice of "large and simple, but cumbersome" or "small and versatile but more complex". Because a larger tube means better viewing, but at the cost of a dead simple and heavy mount.

Just beware of anything that says "OTA" when looking to buy, because that's just the tube, no mount. So you'll get a better tube for the price but they're not something you freehand, lol.

>Do you recommend any specific brand of camera that pairs well with telescopes?

If you don't already have one, don't worry about it. You can take nice photos with a smartphone. Astrophotography with a camera is an advanced art for when a) you're really into it yourself, willing to put in the time and money and b) already have a good grasp of photography. And conversely, likely already have a camera.

Have fun snapping phone photos, see how you like it, research the subject seriously, ONLY then ask on dedicated astrophoto boards about specific cameras. I don't know enough about cameras to make good recommendations myself.

>Also, if $300 is cheap crap, what should I expect to spend on one I actually am going to enjoy with the kids?

Nah, you only need to go higher if you decide you're really into it and want more capability. The ones I've shown will be good enough for kids. But at that point you'll hopefully have be experienced enough in the topic to be able to make informed choices, or at least ask specific questions for research. Because a setup for photographing nebulas or galaxies is fairly significantly different (and more expensive) than trying to view/photograph Mars.

Quite frankly, if/when you're looking to spend more money, I'd look to get a sturdier mount for the astromaster. It's good enough for a begginer with no expectations or goals, casual viewing and the casual phone photo snap, but you can start to find it's too flimsy once you want solid results (say Saturn photos good enough for stacking). The tube is decent but stability really makes a difference. That's why I put the Dobsonians as an option there. But again, that's when you actually have a good idea of what you want out of your telescope. Because good sturdy EQ mounts cost as much as the tube.