Year 4.... Does this sound normal?

[Hermanfromguesswho]

Just wondering if DSs experience eith reading and writing sounds ok for his age or if perhaps there is something underlying that may be causing issues...
He is just started year 4, age 8
He's always been slightly above average with reading. His school always say how well he can read. He is fairly slow though and it's always been hard work for him, he doesn't read for pleasure (by the same age DS1 was reading lots more and a bigger variety)
He is terrible at spelling. Really bad with basic words even. He does reasonably well in his spelling tests each week. He usually gets 7 or 8 out of 10 with daily practise but forgets the spellings literally a day or two after we finish practising them. On odd weeks when we don't practise much, he gets 2 or 3 out of 10
His spelling is very phonetic.
His writing is really bad. He's quite bright and is on target/above target for all areas except writing, where he is below where he needs to be.
He is incredibly slow. Every single teacher he's had say the same. He forms his letters badly and he sometimes forgets certain letters. This week he asked me which way a 'j' goes as he had forgotten. He often forgets spaces between words but will leave a big space in the middle of a word.
Does this sound normal for year 4? Or could there be something that may help him in the areas he struggles with?
I've wondered if he may be dyslexic before but because his reading is good I don't think it could be possible?
Any thoughts?

[Pythonesque]

That does sound "bright dyslexic" to me, or at least is sending red flags. There are actually a whole range of different specific difficulties children may have around reading / writing / arithmetic skills. I would think it is time to talk to his school about how you would get him assessed - if you can clarify what it is he has difficulties with, then you can target help so he learns to work around any weaknesses.

[AllTheFluffyAnimals]

I'm dyslexic but was always really ahead with reading - I had worked out my own ways around my difficulties and it mostly came out in more obscure ways until I was at university. I was obviously dyspraxic though, which was ignored because I was reaching basic targets grrr

[user789653241]

"He's always been slightly above average with reading. His school always say how well he can read. He is fairly slow though and it's always been hard work for him, he doesn't read for pleasure. "

This makes me question a bit. My ds has always been above average for reading... and he loves reading. Any spare time he finds, he is reading books, even only for a page.
Ask the teacher?

[MoonHare]

I have a DD just started year 4 she's an Aug birthday so only just 8.

What you've described does compare differently, except for the phonetic spelling - she often does this still. But she doesn't have problems with which way round letters go, leaves the right amount of space between words and never in the middle of a word. She is also very good at reading and reads quickly. Her writing is fairly neat and is legible. However she is very slow at some tasks - writing a paragraph takes forever!

Our school doesn't set spellings so can't compare with that.

So thinking about my y4 dd and what I know of her friends - from your description in your shoes I think I would be wondering too and would probably raise it more formally with the school.

[yeOldeTrout]

There's something called slow processing speed.
I guess that means Kids who are clever enough but they seem to function about half the speed as others.
tbh, OP's DS sounds middle ability to me, good at some things, not others.
Maybe you could play some games at home where he gets an award if he copies down something neatly but within a specific time limit (make it an easy limit for him).