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Momsdream, since I have one kid who was dyslexic and another who was a precocious early reader, I can assure you that it is not a matter of who "cheated" over the summer. I did everything possible to get my #1 kid to read - I read to him in utero (seriously!) - he was in Montessori from age 2 - the house was full of books and letter blocks & games, I worked & worked with him -- and it just never clicked for him. I wasn't pressuring him either - he loved being read to, all of our "work" was light enough to be fun - I had taken a clue from Montessori to let his level of interest be my guide.
Then after my experience with #1, along comes #2 and all I can think of is - well, I was wrong in thinking I could raise up a little genius by my doting attention - and I put the baby into a family day care home when I returned to work, turning down a coveted spot at the local preschool when she turned 3. She had dolls and music and dance lessons.... but she didn't like being read to, and I figured I wouldn't push. And she's the one who was reading anything she could at age 4 -- I used to have to put books with anything inappropriate for a 4 year old out of reach lest she get her hands on it.
There were very clear differences in the way these two kids responded to words in print. There are also, to this day, very major differences in the way these two extremely smart kids think.
But my point is that while I agree that the way reading is taught in schools tends to be poor, there are some very bright kids who just aren't ready to read at age 6 ... and no amount of teaching is going to help. It's all a matter of brain development and neural connections .. until the child is ready, they just end up with a lot of information crammed into their head with no ability to connect it all up. More information can just lead to more confusion.
Also, I just want to note that a kid who can sound out CAT but not recognize the same word 3 lines later does not have a problem with phonics, but one with visual memory for words. If a child seems to be able to read longer and more difficult words but stumbles over the small words, it is more likely an issue with the visual or eidetic memory. If this is the issue, then no amount of teaching phonics will help unless the visual memory issue is also addressed. The kid will simply continue to sound everything out but be unable to recognize familiar words. A lot of early readers (including my daughter) are reading well simply because they have memorized the most frequently used words - the same words that show up on lists of basic sight words.
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