I think the sight reader/spelling thing must be more complicated than it seems. I was definitely a sight reader when I learned to read (my mom has stories that reflect this) but I've always been an excellent speller. My DD also clearly learned by sight (although phonetic rules were singing backup) and is a fantastic speller, following very much in my footsteps. I don't know about DS; he doesn't write much yet. But he started as a phonetic reader, so it should be interesting to compare.
I was a sight reader/excellent speller, too. It's not that I wasn't aware of phonics, it's just that I never bothered to apply them until much later in life.
My DD was taught phonics early, and it was pretty clearly making her angry when she'd try to phonic her way through some reading material and she kept getting it wrong. If I could hear her thoughts, they'd say, "Why did we bother with phonics, then?"
