I don't have a stake in the argument over the best way to learn how to read since I have only vaguely learned what all this is about, mainly from seeing threads like this on FR. It is quite possible that you are correct that emphasis on sight words is bad when one is learning to read. Nevertheless, it is clear that English is not an entirely phonetic language. If it were, all these words would end with the same sound:
bough
cough
dough
And they wouldn't be spelled in this absurd fashion.
No I don't, but perhaps you read something into my post that made you think that.
Point taken on the examples you posted. I'm all too aware that our language has lots of words that are exceptions to the normal rules of phonetics.
"Ghoti" was my mom's favorite spelling of the word, 'fish'.
“ough” has six sounds O, oo, uff, off, aw, ow. My children learned the six sounds and can apply them when they encounter a new word. Most consonants have one sound, all the vowels have two or more sounds, and multiple letter combinations have different sounds. Example ph says f. There are about 75 basic phonograms which are easy to memorize and apply. Much easier than learning thousands of whole word lists. For more info look up Wanda sanseri’s senate speech and Spell to Write and Read curriculum.