How I suggest you learn to programme.

First: Read up on HTML & CSS

http://learn.shayhowe.com/html-css/terminology-syntax-intro/

Then: Learn some basic JavaScript.

 http://codeacademy.com/

Then: Read the Mozilla JavaScript Guide. This may seem very advanced and confusing at first but if you do manage to actually read through it all then you will bridge the chasm to understanding why there seems to be a huge chasm between learning the basics and applying them on your first project. 

https://developer.mozilla.org/en/JavaScript/Guide/

While: you’re reading up on JavaScript at Mozilla, take a look at the great introduction to what a DOM is. You need it to use that funky JavaScript on websites.

https://developer.mozilla.org/en/Gecko_DOM_Reference/Introduction 

Finally: Start a project. Something from scratch. Maybe just a website with a couple of pages. It doesn’t matter as long as it’s built by you from the ground up. 

Include a map with Google Maps JavaScript API v3. For an added challenge try and place multiple markers on the same map.

Use a service like Google Appengine and learn a little Python on the server. You can apply your HTML/CSS/JavaScript knowledge and take advantage persistent data storage.

Once you get that far you’ll be in a fantastic position to understand the advantages of using a ‘framework’ like jQuery instead of writing all the JavaScript yourself.

Good luck.

G.