Hi everyone! Anyone who can recommend any Math summer camps for a 6th grader? I wouldn’t say he’s super talented! He’s just alright. I want him to develop problem solving skills and instill interest in the subject. He doesn’t LOVE Math but he doesn’t hate it either.
Any recommendation for camps for students who are in that situation is highly appreciated! Kindly share your experiences as well! Thank you!
I would start by looking locally. Private schools often have summer enrichment programs for kids of all ages and abilities.
The sleepaway options that I know of tend to be geared towards gifted kids. That isn’t to say that there aren’t options for regular kids who’d like to improve; I just don’t know about them.
@mamaedefamilia Yes, I’ve been doing my research too on those residential camps. Those seem like such great programs but I don’t know if it’s right for my kid. I was thinking that perhaps those programs will help him further because he will be together with other gifted kids…??? I don’t want to put him either in a program that won’t give him challenge or otherwise learn in school…
Then again, he’s not gifted nor would I say a Math wiz…
My older son did mathy things via CTY, but you have to score pretty high on the SATs to be eligible. He might like a computer camp - it’s great for problems solving and logical thinking even if it’s not math per se.
I am not familiar with these camps but IMACS runs camps that combine math and computer programming with sports. There’s another outfit called Cybercamp.
@mathmom Yes, I heard of CTY. I have to see if my son will be eligible considering what you said about the SAT scores. Yes, I’ve never thought of a computer based camp. However, for those camps, I believe pretty solid foundation in Math is need too right? It’s my first time hearing about IMACS and Cybercamp. I will look into their websites. Are these residential though? I am from OC, California. I am open to sending him to a residential camp.
Why would you want you 6th grade kid do math summer camp? I would just kick him out of the house to play balls, go swimming, go biking, do whatever.
@TimeUpJunior I want him to be in an academic based camp as opposed to say a music/drama and other leisure camps. I feel as though long-term he will benefit more if I put him in math. Also, just looking at the market now, jobs and all, everything is math/computer based. He is an average student in school and would like to develop his problem solving skills more. I just feel as though long-term, that will help him more as an individual…?? I mean, if he wants to play ball, go swimming, biking, he can do that on the weekends, even if it’s not summer… So that’s why I’m looking for a different kind of camp.
Honestly, I think you should look at camps that interest him. Maybe he will be interested in theater, fencing, or something else. I don’t think 6th grade is the time to worry about the job market.
There are some fun science camps that build rockets and stuff. My son came home from one in 2nd grade being able to quote Newton’s laws. Camps that do CSI-style crime forensics are also popular, as are LEGO Mindstorms robotics camps. There are chains of day camps with these topics.
The lady who runs our local math circles also runs 1/2 day summer camps with fun math topics, like Mathemagics and camps that combine art and math. Some of them are appropriate for 4th-6th grade. Look here to see if there is a math circle near you: https://www.mathcircles.org/Wiki_ExistingMathCirclePrograms_view If so, you could ask them if they know of fun math camps in your area.
@ynotgo He likes doing math and computer related stuff and other extra curricular activities. It’s just that, I don’t see him fully engaged in anything particular. I can not pinpoint that, YES, HE LOVES SWIMMING. Or YES, HE LOVES SCIENCE. At this point, I think he’s still undecided as well as to what he he really wants. So I am thinking, I’ll make the decision for him and put him in an academic-based camp, focused on math. I just feel as though math is such an important subject. But the suggestions of everyone here like why not try computer based programs are also very helpful. It broadens my perspective. I will definitely check out MathCircles.org!
I think middle school is still a great time to be trying out lots of new things. There are about 10 weeks of summer–plenty of time to try lots of different things. Developing a “passion” can wait until high school.
Definitely broaden your perspective to more than just math. Anything academic, including the arts should be looked at. My son got his college degree in math (plus comp sci) and his youth included all sorts of varied experiences, not just math/comp sci. btw- music and math are related. Again- let him be a child as well. Nothing wrong with a kid his age have a lot of unstructured time in the summer. The gifted camps run by various organizations are wonderful if your kid qualifies (usually based on an ACT or SAT test taken through one of the programs such as CTY- different regions have different sponsors).
My kids did all sorts of camps - chess, computer (my older one’s favorite unfortunately we could only afford a week), regular with arts and crafts and sports, rockets (they both loved that one), music. Many of the academic camps run for short sessions - CTY is only 3 weeks, so there is a lot of summer left over for hanging around.
@wis75 Yes, I notice that a lot of kids of are into math are musically inclined as well. @mathmom - CTY seems like a good program too. I believe a handful of kids in his school have gone there as well. @ynotgo Thanks!
Why a math camp? Does he want to go to a math camp?
Don’t make the decision for him…please. Look at his interests…and if you want to send him to a camp…send him to a camp that will be interesting to him…not you. You are not going…he is.
I can’t imagine sending my kids to a math camp if they really didn’t love math.
@thumper1 I was thinking maybe if I send him to a math camp, he will find it fun and it will help him instill interest in the subject. He is actually undecided what he wants to do… So I’m sort of making the decision for him. I asked him and he didn’t really know what he wants to do either. So I’m exploring this avenue. It’s not that he hates it. He does good in it. I was hoping that by sending him to one, he will learn to appreciate the subject more…?
@SouthOCGal Or it could completely turn him off to the subject when he sees his friends out playing and he’s stuck inside doing math. I would ask him what he wants to do over the summer. If my parents made me go to math camp in 6th grade I probably would hate math to this day. I did it when I was ready and willing. I went to math camp in 9th grade 
@Coldsummer123 That’s a good point. When did you know that you were ready? And why did you decide to do a math camp?
@Coldsummer123 What math camp did you go to?
@SouthOCGal I decided to go to a math camp because I’m a nerd and would rather spend a month inside doing math problems than out having fun.
However, if you’re asking why from 6th to 9th grade, then it’s because a video game introduced me to programming hacks and like a snowball, I went to a camp to learn more and play video games with friends and then I just kept delving deeper. Math came as a sort of logical progression from computers. I knew I was ready when I wanted to do it. I was genuinely interested in the subject and the opportunity to learn more about it seemed more exciting than traditional summer camps in my area.
However, if he’s like me and plays far too many video games then you might want to consider a short program where you play video games with other friends and get an introduction to coding. I attended a camp similar to this and it really propelled my interests and helped me focus in on my passions. The camp I attended was an ID Tech Camp and although I didn’t learn a whole lot about programming, I had a boatload of fun and remember it fondly to this day.
The math camp I went to was at Stony Brook University.
I’d suggest, if he’s willing, to do a short math camp to see if he likes it and then do something else fun for the summer. Check your local universities, they often run short week-long camps.