Hmmmm... it really does sound like you've got a visual learner?! Both my girls have learned essentially by building up a memory bank of words, not phonetically. With Miss 4, there's always a huge inconsistency between what words she can read easily and those seemingly easy words that she just doesn't get. Chunking has helped us a little this term - encouraging both girls to find bits of the word that they can identify to help guess what word it is.
I loved Upside Down Brilliance...
http://www.visualspatial.org/udb.htmjojo
