This is a common question, believe it or not. Many kids are verbal, bright, and almost seem "gifted". Yet, when they go to school they are judged to be below grade level or their grades don't reflect their intelligence. Parents get so frustrated and urge their children to try harder when, in fact, the children are doing their best. So, does this boy have a learning disability? Most likely he does, but without testing him it is hard to be sure. But, keep in mind that these are symptoms of his visual processing system being in distress. The written work is the key here. Most of the school day is spent writing and copying. If the visual processing system is not working correctly, then the student is unable to perform as well as he should. Many parents are not aware that a simple set of exercises can strengthen the visual system. By patching the eye and tracking from left to right and then in different patterns, they eye muscles are strengthened. There are numerous other exercises that are fun and easy to do. It is simple to fix a visual processing problem. Yet, parents seem to think that buying another workbook with the same set of academic skills the student worked on all day will help him. This doesn't go to the source of the problem. To correct any learning problem, you must go to the source, find out what is going wrong, and then correct it.