Some people think you have to know every bit of theory before you can do any practical applications. That's b.s. The truth is you will not really understand or be ready for the theory until you have tried some practical circuits and see why the theories are useful.
You can build simple circuits with little more understanding than Ohm's law - in fact I would say that Ohm's law is the only one you absolutely must learn.
Maybe it's because I'm self-taught in electronics, but I have a very low opinion of people who think they know electronics, but have only read about it in classes and books, and not done it with real circuits. I believe experience is the only truly correct teacher of electronics, and the real world is the best classroom for it. If you end up blowing up a few components along the way because you tried wiring up a circuit you didn't fully understand, great! That's part of experience, and the lesson will stay with you longer than anything you study for a college course or exam.
Definitely do learn the theory too along the way; the theory is what makes it a science and not alchemy. I'm just saying that I think studying the theory should follow the experience, not precede it, and that you should absorb it one piece at a time while using it.
Edit: P.S. In 20 years I've never needed Thevenin's theorem to design a circuit.
Edit 2: The trouble with college courses on engineering subjects is that there is a difference between an academic, and a practicing engineer. An academic will value the theory for it's own sake, and expect you to learn all the theory whether you need it or not. A practicing engineer views the theories and formulas as tools, just like any other tool like a wrench or a screwdriver. The tools are there when you need them; you grab the tool you need for the job and use it when you need it. A mechanic doesn't study tools, he studies engines; similarly I don't study formulas, they're my tools. I use formulas and theorems, what I study is circuits.