I went to a Catholic school in Los Gatos, CA. I can picture my orange paper “Phonix” workbook from 3rd grade - 1965ish....I credit that with being able to read and spell and decipher nearly any word...I love words and language....
Around sixth grade, we were extensively studying Greek and Latin roots of English words together with a strong phonics background. I became fascinated by the etymology of words as a result.
Once you understand the Greek or Latin roots, suffixes, and prefixes, so many words become easy to decipher and understand.