Math and STEM-focused summer camps allow kids to develop unique interests and skills in a fun, friendly, and engaging atmosphere that is often the total opposite of traditional classroom experiences.
They allow children to do a deeper dive into the kinds of skills and mathematics courses they may not have had exposure to otherwise or not been exposed to until much later on in their educational path. Of course, finding the right math summer camp for your child is a little bit more challenging than merely jumping online and picking the first one that you come across.
In these reviews, we highlight some of the best math summer camps for middle school and high school students that can help set them up for success in their studies and future career.
Best Math Summer Camps
1. World Mathematics Academy
Website: https://www.worldscholarsacademy.com/mathematics-courses
Students Grade Levels: 9th – 12th grade
The World Mathematics Academy offers a two-week-long class on proof-based mathematics. With fantastic online math courses, students ages 15-18 can gain a deeper understanding of the world of mathematics through daily assignments, group work, individual feedback, and much more.
The course is taught by a renowned mathematics scholar from the University of Cambridge. The curriculum comprises different classes on a variety of mathematical subjects like mathematical induction, combinatorics, graph theory, projective geometry, quaternions, and much more.
Students with a high ability for math can hone their skills and spend the summer learning with other like-minded peers from around the world. The course sessions run from June and through August.
2. Ivy Camps USA STEAM Discovery
Website: https://ivycampsusa.com/
Students Grade Levels: 1st – 9th grade
This STEM discovery camp by Ivy League Camps is a great way for math-focused students to apply their skills to the real world. Kids can learn exciting things like biomimicry and assistive technology but also improve soft skills like teamwork, presentation, and creative thinking.
It shares a strong focus on math, and kids also learn about other subjects, including engineering, science, and the arts. The class ends with a final project where kids can show off all they learned during the program.
The camp is taught by live instructors from world-renowned universities like Harvard and Princeton. They accept campers between the ages of 6-14, but they are divided into age groups, so everyone gets suitable learning for them.
3. Stanford University Mathematics Camp
Website: https://sumac.spcs.stanford.edu/
Students Grade Levels: 11th – 12th
It should come as no surprise to anyone that Stanford University would host one of the best mathematics camps on the planet. It allows children to not only engage and explore the world of mathematics in a more in-depth and more hands-on kind of way but also engage with a mathematics community that has the same type of passion and curiosity for this discipline.
Campers who attend will have an opportunity to live on campus at Stanford University, making friends and finding themselves challenged academically. A lot of campers that attend this program mention this camp changes their lives for the better. It helps them establish a foundation of skills in the world of mathematics that allow them to plot their own course and career in the future.
4. U Penn Mathematics Academy
Website: https://www.sas.upenn.edu/summer/programs/high-school/mathematics
Students Grade Levels: 9th – 11th
The University of Pennsylvania also runs its own summertime math camp, providing various dedicated math camps that students can take advantage of (provided they are already in high school).
Residential and commuter camp options are available for those that do not want to sleep away, with children visiting this summer camp from all over the world and participating in these advanced mathematics programs. Financial aid for students in Philadelphia can also be arranged, helping to separate this program from all others.
For more Pennsylvania summer camps, check these out.
5. Summer Workshop in Math @ Duke University
Website: https://sites.duke.edu/swim/
Students Grade Levels: 11th grade
This Summer Workshop in Math is a free and virtual 7-day workshop for rising high school seniors interested in mathematics, with a particular focus on advancing female participation in math.
SWiM is strongly focused in increasing diversity in mathematics and in science and technology opportunities. SWiM strongly encourages female and female-identifying students, who are in their junior year of high school, and citizens and residents of the U.S to apply to the program.
Participants will attend math courses and lectures, work in research groups, and participate in social activities with other students. All students applications are due by March 22.
6. MoMath Summer Camp
Website: https://momath.org/home/transformations/
Students Grade Levels: 1st – 9th
It’s hard to imagine there being a better environment for students and campers to learn the ins and outs of mathematics than at the National Museum of Mathematics, the only museum in North America dedicated specifically to this discipline.
Beloved because of its very hands-on approach to exploring mathematics, MoMath has a variety of groups available to accommodate children of all ages, backgrounds, and abilities, exposing them to cool areas of mathematics not covered in school and stoking the flames for a lifelong appreciation of math.
With one of the most creative curriculums in the math summer camp world, this is a big favorite of parents worldwide.
7. MathTree Camp
Website: https://www.mathtree.com/
Students Grade Levels: 1st -10th
This math camp is specifically designed to serve children of all ages up until the high school level. It reinforces mathematics lessons children learned while attending school throughout the year and helps them “leapfrog” so that they are better prepared for more advanced mathematics courses in the next school year.
Several different locations can be found throughout Washington DC, Northern Virginia, and Maryland, with campers from around the nation and world. This makes the choice to make this their summertime home easier because of the great success this program has had in the past.
8. Idea Math Camp
Website: https://www.ideamath.education/landing/programs/summer-program
Students Grade Levels: 4th – 12th
This math program was founded by the former head coach of the renowned Phillips Exeter Academy math team and the U.S.A. International Math Olympiad team, and its curriculum and pedagogy are based on the experiences of the teaching staff working with avid students on these math teams.
IDEA MATH provides three main series. The School Enrichment series covers the standard school curriculum with extra depth and breadth. Extracurricular series covers the standard school curriculum with extensions to math contests. In the extracurricular series, for younger students, courses cover the fundamentals of algebra, geometry, number sense, and combinatorics; for more advanced students there are courses all the way up to the Olympiad level. The Contest Edge series offers additional practice for all levels of math contests.
Courses in the extracurricular series will be offered in the IDEA MATH summer programs. Students can begin attending IDEA MATH programs as young as 4th grade through their senior year in high school. With the opportunity to learn from their peers as well as their teachers, they are certain to develop more vital skills and abilities in the world of mathematics by the time the program closes for the year.
9. Canada/USA Mathcamp
Website: https://www.mathcamp.org/
Students Grade Levels: 7th – 12th
Canada/USA Mathcamp is an intense and advanced five-week-long summer program specifically created for high school students that have shown an aptitude and talent for mathematics to increase their skills, abilities, and confidence in this discipline.
Applauded for its vibrant community of mathematicians that teach here from around the world, students that attend will have an opportunity to live and breathe mathematics while they are away at camp while having plenty of fun along the way. This math camp location moves around a little bit every year.
It welcomes students from all over the world, and given it’s name, especially for Canadians and Americans.
10. MathILy
Website: http://www.mathily.org/
Students Grade Levels: 9th – 12th
One of the most popular math summer camps on the planet, this particular math camp sets itself apart from the rest of the pack. It is specifically designed to help children with more accelerated mathematics programs.
MathILy is set up to be fun and challenging. Children that attend this program will have a unique opportunity to learn from world-class educators and camp counselors while studying in less than traditional “classrooms” that give them a better appreciation for the application of advanced mathematics.
Applied mathematics is the name of the game here, but that doesn’t mean that your children won’t have the same kind of fun they would at a more traditional summer camp while attending. There are all kinds of other activities designed to give campers a bit of a break from their studies, and they are sure to leave camp with lifetime friendships and memories they’ll cherish forever.
11. AlphaStar Academy Math Summer Camp
Website: https://alphastar.academy/camps/summer/math/
Students Grade Levels: 4th – 12th
There are eight individual levels of camp options available through this program based out of California, specifically in Santa Clara. Each of which is taught by a leading educator in the field of mathematics and a specialist in their particular discipline that they are teaching to camp attendees.
The idea behind this camp is to push talented and gifted young mathematicians that want to excel in the world of mathematics going forward. It provides motivation as well as a challenging environment that encourages campers to get outside of their comfort zone, push past their preconceived boundaries, and create lifelong friendships and memories along the way.
Advanced math programs make for a great extracurricular activity and after school activities for younger students.