Can puberty cause a child to regress academically?

[Janeway]

My daughter, who loves to read a ton, suddenly cannot spell words like inflate or read words like inflation or solve a math problem like 16 divided by 2. She is frequently weepy and about to turn 10 yrs old. Does this just sounds like hormones starting? Or do I need to get her tested for learning disabilities?

[Shoeless]

IMO, it sounds like hormones. My son went through a spacey/weepy stage a year or so ago. School felt like it stalled out all of a sudden; we weren't making any progress and he'd give me a blank look when I asked him to do anything. He turns 13 in a few weeks and it seems like he's coming out of it now.  

[ieta_cassiopeia]

If it's any comfort, puberty temporarily causes many children (possibly the majority) to have more difficulty with academics and anything else requiring clear thinking. Your daughter will get all her academic ability back, and more.

Unless you have some specific reason to suspect learning disabilities (some become more apparent at puberty), I'd be inclined to extend grace to your daughter and yourself, give her some good resources on puberty's effect on thinking if she's not had any yet, and take things steady (as in, keep academic requirements consistent and ease off a little if necessary at a specific point) for a while until things stabilise.