I haven't read all the pages of this thread (only a couple) but wanted to add some suggestions....

Re: Parenting...
I agree that the fathers should help take care of the babies. Give the player an option via pop-up window "Do you want Unagi or Nofo to care for the infant for the next two years?" That way, if one of them is a Master Scientist or something valuable, you can base your choice on that.

Re: New Tasks/Capabilities...
In VV1, the villagers mastered the basics of foraging, farming, fishing, medicine, spirituality, and building/restoring structures.

In VV2, they further enhanced their farming and fishing capabilities through scientific advancements (irrigation for crops and eco-balance for the ocean). They also learned more about culture, exploration, cooking and medicine.

In VV3, I'd like to see the villagers work on communications. They could start with message-in-a-bottle or "tree mail" (like in Survivor). With level 2 communications, they could learn how to do smoke signals or something similar and with level 3, they could have some kind of primitive telephone lines or something. Then the villagers could send and receive messages from the other two villages on the island. Much like the gong, the messages received could have bad consequences or good ones. This new feature of the game would be similar to the island events, which everyone loves.

Another area they could enhance would be their business skills. There could be a farmers' market or a place where villagers sell clothes made in the clothing hut. An early puzzle would be to have the builders build the market and then have the farmers or tailors (a new skill?) bring their goods there. That could be a way of earning tech points. Now that I think about it, that's sort of mixing the Fish Tycoon concept with Villagers.

Some other thoughts...

• More collectibles!
• More island events!
• More likes/dislikes!
• DO NOT have the children's lessons in the same place as the fishing traffic, nursing moms and skeletons. Have a dedicated school area where the parents and children can interact, teach, and learn without being interrupted.
• Let the children accumulate skill from attending lessons.