If your child would rather watch television than learn how to read, and you’re also concerned about the quality of shows he or she is watching, why not kill two birds with one stone and put on some fun phonics programming? There are a few great choices that will satisfy kids and parents alike.First, the long-running PBS Between the Lions is in its tenth season and running. BTL shares the joys of reading in a number of parody segments, including the Monkey Pop-Up Theatre, The Word Doctor with Dr. Ruth Wordheimer, Fun With Chicken Jane, and more. Throughout the show, phonics is shown in a number of ways. Each episode is built around a feature letter or sound, which is used and shown throughout the show. Letters in words are often highlighted as they are spoken, and viewers will also learn a number of new vocabulary words.The Phonics DVDs available from Rock ‘N Learn are another option. There are 2 70-minute DVDs, available for 19.99 separately or 34.99 as a set. Phonics rules are taught using songs and word families, and kids then put these rules to use by reading rhyming words, followed by sentences and stories. Exciting computer animation accompanies these lessons, and the two young hosts will easily charm your children.LeapFrogLetter Factory (8.99, Amazon.com) is an offshoot of the Leap Pad brand of toys, so your children will recognize amphibious adventurers Tad, Leap, and Lily. There’s a fun storyline that serves as a backdrop to the phonics at work here, involving Tad being unable to help out at the letter factory until he meets up with Professor Quigley and the letters of the alphabet. He learns about each letter by doing activities starting with that letter (for instance, he does karate with the k’s). At only 35 minutes long, this video packs a lot into a short amount of time, and is the perfect length for youngsters ages 2-5. After your child has mastered letter sounds, they can move on to the LeapFrogTalking Words Factory (7.99, Amazon.com). In this sequel, Tad, Leap, and Lily learn about building letters using Professor Quigley’s “Sticky-ick-o-rama” and “Word Whammer.”Finally, for the very young, there’s Phonics for Babies: First Words, where Emmy-award-winner Mallory Lewis introduces 300 key words and phrases. From these modest beginnings, your child can construct the beginnings of speech and eventually readingjust as phonics teaches that all words comes from the same 26 letters. Phonics for Babies is available for 11.49 from Amazon.com.