I think the note on classism is basically the entire story. Avoiding phonics probably works great for families who have already taught kids to read by the time

I think the note on classism is basically the entire story. Avoiding phonics probably works great for families who have already taught kids to read by the time they reach school. I could intuitively sound out words by the time I was in grade school. I also had parents reading books with me multiple times a day my entire life up to that point. We made games out of reading the book backwards because if you read words backwards it sounds funny. Being able to do this implies already being proficient in phonics. By the time I was in grade school, what I needed was a quiet place and dedicated time to practice reading short, easy novels (which I continued to do at home every day). Doing this without already being able to read sounds like nonsense.