Phonics instruction involves practicing the sounds that build words and matching them with letters. There is a longstanding and bitter debate over whether phonics instruction has more proven results than "whole language" teaching, which relies on stories to capture children's interest in reading and uses phonics secondarily. The program that Mr. Klein has in mind — Month by Month Phonics combined with using books — treads a cautious line between the two methods.
These two paragraphs pretty clearly define the problem. While the "whole language" approach is flawed at best for good students, as a parent of a one time special ed child, I can state without reservation, it is an unmitigated disaster for children with learning challenges.