Malika, phonics and global are both reconized and successful methods. Usually, nowadays, teachers use a mix of them both. Some go heavy on the phonics (syllabic) or on the global (also called whole reading). Very few teachers are purists.
And like everything else, some kids learn better with phonics and others learn better with global.
Global might appear a bit weird at first, but I personnaly truly believe in it. V who is also learning how to read this year, does a lot better when I emphasize on global reading (his teachers does an equal amount of both methods). It probably comes from his Auditory Processing Disorders (APD). Auditory Processing Disorders (APD) makes phonics learning near impossible depending on the severity of the disabilty. And very early on I could see this with V (way before he was diagnosis with Auditory Processing Disorders (APD)).
For adults who master reading, the global method is pretty much the only way we read: you look at the word and you know what it is without sounding out the letters. Of course, we use phonics for unfamiliar words.
The debate on both methods has been raging in France for years. But the reality, unless a child has a true learning disabilty, he/she will learn how to read.
I know you suspect some learning disability with J, but from what you convey I have a hard knowing which method is better suited for him.
To eliminate any potential problem, make sure J has his eyes checked (nearsightedness and farsightedness). Both my boys wear glasses and could not read without them and both passed the standard school screening (they are farsighted which makes reading hard). The interesting part of being farsighted: you CAN see if you focus real hard but then the eyes and the brain become VERY tired. When you are nearsighted like I am, no matter how hard you try you can't see! lol
And like everything else, some kids learn better with phonics and others learn better with global.
Global might appear a bit weird at first, but I personnaly truly believe in it. V who is also learning how to read this year, does a lot better when I emphasize on global reading (his teachers does an equal amount of both methods). It probably comes from his Auditory Processing Disorders (APD). Auditory Processing Disorders (APD) makes phonics learning near impossible depending on the severity of the disabilty. And very early on I could see this with V (way before he was diagnosis with Auditory Processing Disorders (APD)).
For adults who master reading, the global method is pretty much the only way we read: you look at the word and you know what it is without sounding out the letters. Of course, we use phonics for unfamiliar words.
The debate on both methods has been raging in France for years. But the reality, unless a child has a true learning disabilty, he/she will learn how to read.
I know you suspect some learning disability with J, but from what you convey I have a hard knowing which method is better suited for him.
To eliminate any potential problem, make sure J has his eyes checked (nearsightedness and farsightedness). Both my boys wear glasses and could not read without them and both passed the standard school screening (they are farsighted which makes reading hard). The interesting part of being farsighted: you CAN see if you focus real hard but then the eyes and the brain become VERY tired. When you are nearsighted like I am, no matter how hard you try you can't see! lol
The thing is, a week ago I didn't even know there was such a thing as a global method of reading... apparently it was invented by a French doctor at the beginning of the 20th century. It seems to me very wierd but then I learnt with just the phonic method. I have read that the global method is not good for kids with learning difficulties and lots of people here HATE it! I mean really hate it... whole campaigns and organisations set up to fight it. People accuse it of causing wide scale illiteracy, poor standards of reading, etc. I just don't know. I can see that J seems pretty lost with it all at the moment, syllables or whole words. I just don't think he's ready to read. I did enquire about the possibility of a place at a local Catholic school and there isn't a single one! They are all oversubscribed with waiting lists (people wanting to escape the global method? 
