<p>The American Mathematical Society maintains a nice list of summer camps for math. There is a wide range of camps – some are for girls or minorities; some focus on theoretical math; some are more more focused on contests. Some are regional and some are more national. It’s good to do some exploration. Some on this list are just high school, some are high school and middle school and some are both. For instance, Texas State’s Honors Summer Math Camp runs one program for middle school students and a different one for high school.</p>
<p>Also, some mathematically talented kids are math competition kids, and (particularly at the middle school level) some are just not speedy enough to compete, but still have incredible talent. At least until the problems get very hard, speed can be a barrier. </p>
<p>USAMTS is a great experience for kids with a lot of talent but not a lot of speed. It relies on quality of proof instead of how fast you can calculate.</p>
<p>(I’ve gone through this with two girls now. There are LOTS more boys who are encouraged to do math competitions than girls, and the speed issue can be huge.)</p>
<p>There is financial aid available for some of the summer programs. One of the great things about attending the summer programs for gifted students is the exposure to other mathematically talented peers. It’s nice for gifted kids to have an opportunity to be just like everyone else.</p>
<p>OP - Congratulation to your daughter! As an earlier poster noted, there is more than 1 path to summer fun for the gifted. My D is a math wiz too - and she did travel softball in the summer, starting in 7th grade. She’s now an NU Grad and a successful ChemE. Good luck to you and your D.</p>
<p>Our kids both qualified and took the SAT when they were in 7th and 8th grades. Both scored well enough to enter flagship U at that point. S also won a free scholarship to take two courses at local private U in our state due to his very high scores compared to others in the state those both years. He opted to take one summer course in probability (the expensive textbook was the only cost, plus getting him to & from class–he learned to catch the bus). He was very disappointed in what he considered the poor caliber of students and teaching he encountered and felt he learned as much or more from his 6th grade math course than he did in college summer statistics course. He was NOT interested in taking any more courses there.</p>
<p>We did speak with some who enjoyed the JHU opportunities. S decided they were more expensive than he wanted us to pay, in addition to his private HS, so he opted not to take any though his scores would have qualified him to participate if he chose. We didn’t pursue scholarship opportunities, but we know some families who have gotten scholarships for it.</p>
<p>Some Us also offer summer math, computer science and engineering programs for high achieving HS students, that may be additional options to explore and consider. Our S learned about these too late, but some kids we know that participated in them enjoyed it and it helped solidify whether they wanted to pursue engineering and whether to apply to the college where they attended the program.</p>
<p>Congrats–I agree with following your child’s lead. Our S was extremely gifted and his HS teachers offered to allow him to do research at the local U. He was flattered but refused, saying he wasn’t interested in having ever MORE work to do and we respected his choice, after pointing out what a great opportunity it was. We wanted S to have time to socialize and “be a kid,” which is what he wanted as well.</p>
<p>Agree also that it’s important to realize that schools do have agendas that may not necessarily always co-incide with the best interests of the child. YOU are your child’s advocate and need to help figure out what is best for her now, based on her interests and what you feel is best.</p>