Question on Kanji in lessons

[djadams]

Hello,

I just started using this site and how this works better then the other methods I've tried to learn Japanese, so far it looks good.
My question is this, in the lessons there are two sections with kanji.
The first one is the Kanji Close-Up which shows just the kanji used in the words. IN the case of the first lesson on the beginner section there are 9 Kanji's with only one meaning and the reading that does not nessesarly make up the kanji, i.e. はじ　does not make 初 but はつ does, or you can use はじめ to make that Kanji, which the lesson does not explain. The other is the Kanji list for that lesson, which in that lesson shows 17 Kanji. So my question is this, which one should I focus on? I know the lessons build off each other so do I just focus on just 9 kanji and only the meaning that shows or the 17 Kanji and the Kunyomi, the Onyomi, and the multiple meanings?

I guess the biggest question is how do these lessons build off each other.

Sorry for the long question.

Thanks