My wife was not spared. I had to tutor several of our kids in reading and my basic text was Bob Books, a great phonics curriculum. When I explained basic rules like what a silent "e" at the end of a word does to the preceding vowel, my wife thought I was speaking Greek. She was never taught any of that.
I used the Bob Books too.With a family history of learning disabilities I switched to The Phonographics program it was a life saver in the Knick of time. MY Daughter is now a teacher and understands how important phonic based learning is.
Phonics works. Taught our kids to read before they started school.