Not just you. I don't get the point of this either. I'm guessing it has something to do with your existing reading method? My eyes naturally jump to the first letters and tallest/round characters when determining the shape of a word.

There is an accelerated reader I played with a few years ago, based on flashing the words for you with some letters colored in red. That increased reading speed mildly, but the lack of ability to quickly backtrack defeated any gains.