I know this is an old post, but I wanted to add to it.
I didn't use phonics when I learned to read. I learned by memorizing how to spell the words. I've always been really good at spelling. My sister (who is hearing), is a really bad speller lol. She did use phonics.
Anyways, some of you may know I am in college majoring in Special Education. My teacher recently told me about this book, it's called "The Bad Speller's Dictionary." My teacher says it is listed by the way it sounds, not by the way it is actually spelled. In one column it shows how it is spelled in phonics and in another column, it shows how it is really spelled. For example, the word "phone"
sounds like fone, so that word would be under "f" section.
Here's a website for this book.
http://hallwriting.com/words_language/434.shtml