Research School Network: Reading fluency’s like riding a bike By David Windle, Director, The London South Research School

There are two things in life that I love to do: read fluently and ride a bike (rarely at the same time).

I enjoy both reading and riding my bike because I am proficient at both. And in both cases, that proficiency is born of fluency.

I recall trying to learn to ride as a child. I sat in the saddle, stabiliser-free, and my dad pushed me off, sending me on my way. Sudden acceleration. Panic. The pedals span. The brakes failed. I plunged into a hedge of conifers.

Similarly, I recall trying to learn to read as a child. Clutching the book, admiring the cover, and my mum reading aloud to me. Then it was my turn – ​“Sound out the difficult words”. They fragmented. Sentences stalled. The story was lost.

Fluency matters. Being able to balance, pedal, brake and steer means you can feel the fun and freedom of riding. You can look forward and focus on where you are heading, the open road stretching before you with its infinite routes to be taken and hills to be conquered.

Being able to read words fluently means you can focus on meaning. You can follow the path of a story, unpick an opinion, or decipher a thought process. Fluency enables understanding, which, in turn, builds greater fluency, leading to more freedom and fun as a reader. You can look forward, you can predict, evaluate, empathise and comprehend, and the world of reading opens before you with its infinite routes to be taken and words to be read.

Of course, even as an adult reader, we come across words we aren’t familiar with, and these must be broken down and sounded out so that they can be read fluently. We must also learn what they mean in order to read them as part of a sentence or text.

Along with knowledge and vocabulary, fluency is fundamental to reading comprehension. It isn’t the endpoint of the learning-to-read/reading-to-learn process. It is a key component of the journey; it’s the gateway to the open road.