Out of curiosity I run through the Skritter Chinese 101 list. Mostly very well chosen words/characters but some of them I would actually like to know why they are there:
艸 ok, the variations of this is very, very common in many characters but this form I can't even recall ever seen. To learn that in an beginners list seems odd. Or is this to give a pictograph background to today's variations?

Oh no, I'v completed the list and learnt that one, how can I forget it? ;)

Have you checked other lists and can give any recommendations?
Not that I don't have lists to study :)

Good question mandarinboy! I'd like to know the answer too.

I didn't question '艸's presence because I knew it well; my very first Chinese teacher (back when I wasn't studying properly) really liked explaining the 'story' behind the characters, and often showed us traditional ones and the evolution of radicals. I found that hugely useful when, a few years later, I started learning to write them properly. (Even when I found he'd taken a little artistic license with some meanings!)

For people who haven't been exposed to similar in depth 'narratives' (more than just mnemonics), it could be confusing - but really characters like this one belong there to encourage interest in the pictograph history. I hope that's what Skritter had in mind :)