Don't know where to start with teachers JavaScript 'Challenges' but can do the code challenges and quizzes easy

I understand what you mean. What I started doing towards the beginning is listening to the plan until I felt it clicked, and then I'd go work on it until I got stuck. Then I'd watch more, fix my code, pause again and try to make more headway. Clicking around the documentation also helped.

Sometimes I would need to watch well into part of a problem before feeling like I could make progress on my own, but I definitely think it's helping to try to do as much as I can in each section. You always have the videos and finished code to fall back on.

Also, after finishing a project, I'll sometimes try to build something similar to reinforce the concepts.

That's not to say my method will work for you. But you're not alone! Getting started on a project is the hardest part I think.

It is normal in my opinion. Try your best at and compare your attempts to the solutions they give.

What really helps me with larger problems, like these challenges, are writing step by step instructions on paper. Then translating them to code.