"I am still not quite sure how other people are learning this..."

We practice our scales through the circle of fifths. I don't really follow what they mean by "activates" at F#.

If this is getting the author to play and they're having fun, then that's great. But having a great teacher is invaluable, particularly when you're trying to lay down the fundamentals. It's going to be more difficult to unlearn bad habits in the future.