As for the rest of the article:
Words can be grouped in so many memorable ways. Words that came to us from German or Chinese. Words that indicate a color. Words that rhyme. Words that start with a kick-ass K-sound. A good rule of thumb is: any excuse for a group. Consider words heard in the kitchen. Words you’re likely to encounter in Times Square. Words associated with computers. Words you need to study the American Revolution. Words found on a French menu.
I think it's crap.
Written English is like a code. We have approximately 44 sounds that, unfortunately, must be represented by only 26 letters. And, as the author did note, we have also accepted words into English from many foreign languages.
Nonetheless. Start with the simple sounds and progress to the more complex. The kids'll learn it. "f" comes first; "ph" comes next; and "gh" comes last.
Some people say that English isn't phonetic. They're wrong. It's just phonetically complex; and though a trip to the laboratory may be fun and even edifying for young-skulls-full-of-mush, it isn't necessary to learn "vocabulary" words.
Good post. I’ll add that people (”studies show”) have a difficulty remembering more than three new things at a time.
i found this to be true when i was teaching my sons to read... even the so called "sight" words could be sounded out if you know the phonetics... btw--i am big on having my sons study Latin and Greek root words... this has proven helpful in growing their vocabulary... doing crossword puzzles on an almost daily basis throughout much of my life has helped me grow my vocabulary...
as far as grouping words, i did this when my younger son was a baby... i introduced him to words in groups... starting with parts of the body before he could even speak a word... i would say, "show me your eyes,' and he would blink his eyes... "show me your nose," and he would point to his nose... we covered a lot... toes, tummy, tongue, head, hair, hands, fingers, legs... etc...
then i did the same with types of food, furniture, clothing, colors, shapes, a lot of it before he could really speak... i placed objects in front of him and he would pick up the item i named... we used colored bean bags and crayons for colors, etc...
i taught him to recognize the alphabet and the sounds of the alphabet the same way...
by the time he was 16 months he knew over a thousand words... i agree with you about the suggestions in the article being crap... unless you are teaching babies... :)