While I agree that I wouldn't use jQuery in just about any meaningful project going forward I wouldn't dismiss it when you're on the learning path. jQuery serve

While I agree that I wouldn't use jQuery in just about any meaningful project going forward I wouldn't dismiss it when you're on the learning path. jQuery serves as an incredibly good bridge between "I can write a for loop" and "I can build non-trivial web apps". The real trick is teaching why jQuery is useful without letting it become a crutch.