I agree with that. We couldn’t figure out why our son wasn’t able to read well going into the third grade. It was the whole word crap that had him buffaloed. We did the phonics thing and taught him at home to sound out the word. After that he excelled in reading comprehension. It was like we hit the go button. BTW, that was long before hooked on phonics hit the market.
I was in first grade in 1947 when 'look-say' teaching was first instituted. My foster-mother found out they were not teaching phonics and proceeded to teach me. It took less than three or four months and I was reading books far above 'grade level' and my teachers wondered why and how.
Today I know how to pronounce words on first-sight that are rarely used in print. Sight reading simply doesn't provide that ability, nor does it give you the basic tools you need for learning how to spell words easily.