Summer is here and you may be wondering what programs or activities are available for your child to attend. We have done some research for you and compiled a list of fantastic Summer programs that serve gifted youth. All these programs come from the , Institute for Educational Advancement鈥檚 database. The GRC is a free public tool which serves as an online database of resources appropriate for the gifted learner from Preschool through High School. The GRC contains an abundance of resources and information regarding advocacy, gifted programs and organizations, schools, scholarships, supplemental learning opportunities, testing and counseling professionals, and the twice-exceptional (2e) learner.

Below is a sample of some of the resources that offer and provide activities during the summer. More information about these programs, as well as many more that are not listed here, is available on the .

9-12

Girls Who Code offers a free 7-week summer program for current 10th-11th-grade girls to learn to code and get exposure to tech jobs. Each week the program covers projects related to computer science, such as art, storytelling, robotics, video games, web sites, and apps. Participants will also hear from guest speakers, participate in workshops, connect with female engineers and entrepreneurs, and go on field trips. The program culminates in a final project where students build their own product and share it with the class.

6-8 路 9-12

Digital Media Academy is a nationally recognized organization that provides hands-on summer resi颅dential and day computer camps for teens as well as youth (ages 9-13).

6-8 路 9-12

Summer Discovery is a pre-college academic enrichment program offering middle school and high school students a meaningful summer experience with lifelong value. Choose from over 300 interactive courses at 14 different university locations in the United States and abroad. Their summer programs combine academics with social activities, travel, recreation, and sports.

K-5 路 6-8 路 9-12

CodeREV Kids provides classes and curriculum for students ages 6 to 18, focused on explor颅ing STEM by learning coding, technology, and robotics. Classes are project-based, allowing stu颅dents to engage in deep learning through unique creations and hands-on projects. CodeREV offers classes and summer tech camps in a variety of locations throughout Southern California: Santa Monica, Solana Beach, Encino, Irvine, Beverly Hills, Fountain Valley/Huntington Beach, and Mali颅bu/Palisades.

K-5 路 6-8 路 9-12

Girls Garage is a one-of-a-kind design and building program and a dedicated workspace for girls ages 9 to 17. Located in Berkeley, California, it offers after-school programs, summer camps, and workshops.

优蜜视频 ACADEMY K-5 路 6-8

优蜜视频 Academy is a program of the Institute for Educational Advancement which provides students in Kin颅dergarten through 8th grade with advanced learning opportunities that promote exploration and ap颅plication of knowledge. Classes are taught by content-area specialists and taught at a flexible pace to accommodate the learning needs of gifted and 2e students. Classes are small and grouped by ability rather than chronological age. 优蜜视频 Academy sessions take place in Pasadena, California and are held seasonally: fall, spring and summer (three sessions hosted each summer).

9-12

Stanford High School Summer College offers academically outstanding high school students the oppor颅tunity to take Stanford College courses and earn university credit. Program participants enroll as visiting undergraduates in Stanford鈥檚 Summer Quarter and take the same courses, taught by the same Stanford faculty, as matriculated Stanford students.

6-8 路 9-12

Summer@HPA offers students entering grades 6 through 12 a unique four-week day and boarding expe颅rience structured for academic enrichment and designed to make the most of summer and take advan颅tage of our wondrous island-home to 80 percent of the world鈥檚 ecosystems. The diverse class offerings integrate environmental stewardship and awareness, and sustainability education and practices.

K-5 路 6-8 路 9-12

From early childhood through elementary, middle and high school, Center for Talent Development (CTD) gifted summer programs encourage gifted kids to explore academic areas of interest and con颅nect with a community of peers. CTD offers life-changing residential and commuter programs provid颅ing challenging enrichment, honors and Advanced Placement courses taught in a highly supportive environment.

9-12

Summer Academy is a two-week academic program designed to provide US and international rising 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th graders the opportunity to have a glimpse of college life for two weeks during the summer. During their stay on campus, students take one of the different classes offered such as Exam Preparation, Debate, Engineering, Arts, or Literature and earn a 陆 Carnegie high school credit for this classwork.

PRE-K 路 K-5 路 6-8
The Quad Manhattan is an inclusive meeting place for Twice-Exceptional kids 鈥� a place where social and executive functioning 鈥渓ife鈥� skills are developed through FUN! Twice Exceptional or 2e children have intellectual or creative gifts, and also have lagging social or executive functioning skills. Developed by experts in medicine, child psychology and gifted special education, the Quad uses kids鈥� strengths and passions to hide skill development in creative and engaging afterschool classes and activities during our summer camp.

9-12

Carnegie Mellon鈥檚 Pre-College programs will show you what college life is all about鈥攆rom the class颅room to what鈥檚 happening on weekends. Carnegie Mellon offers Pre-College summer programs in a variety of subject areas, such as math, science, architecture, drama, music, art, and gaming. There are no tuition, housing or dining fees for students selected to attend the Summer Programs for Diversity.

PRE-K 路 K-5 路 6-8 路 9-12

Summer Wonders is a nonresidential, full or half-day program that allows students to explore diverse subjects in a challenging, creative environment through an integrative, hands-on, non-traditional ap颅proach. Summer Wonders is a specialty program for gifted children entering Pre-K through 6th grade and is held during three different two-week sessions at ACE Academy in Austin, Texas.

K-5

Gifted student Cassidy Kao published her first book at 8 years old and founded iPoetTree at 12 years old. The nonprofit organization seeks to inspire a passion for writing in kids kindergarten to 6th grade. Cassidy provides a fun and free curriculum, supportive environment for sharing poems, and assis颅tance with becoming a published author like her.

听In addition to searching the hundreds of resources in the GRC, you can also download our and with opportunities for K-12 students. and check out our curated Guides.

听Like this post?听听to receive more stories, information, and resources about gifted youth straight to your inbox.

Lisa is the mother of 3 gifted children and lives outside of San Francisco.

It鈥檚 the only fun part of the college application process: the college trip. It鈥檚 the chance for your child to dream before the harsh realities of test scores, class rank and GPAs hit. Best of all, parents are active participants. We get to be accomplices to the dream worlds our children are imagining.

Three years ago, I eagerly anticipated bonding with my oldest son on our whirlwind tour of 6 colleges in the east and one in the Midwest. I memorialized the trip with pictures of him scraping the snow off the windshield of our rented car, waking up with bed head and sampling cannoli in Boston. He was not amused. The defining moment of our trip happened during dinner midway into the week.

鈥淚 haven鈥檛 seen anyone in so long,鈥� he said.

I not only wasn鈥檛 bonding with him, I wasn鈥檛 even someone.

I returned from the trip with a more realistic understanding of my place in his world. I could be the travel agent, chauffeur and advisor, but I did not have a place in his dreams. The trip was his opportunity to imagine a life without me. He had already gotten a head start imagining that world.

I tried to apply the lessons I learned from my oldest son to my middle son鈥檚 college trip. We would see one school a day (with the exception of a quick trip to New York City) and travel solely by public transportation. The pace and mode of transportation would reduce my stress and allow each of us to immerse ourselves in the experience of looking for a college 鈥� separately. For my son, that meant plugging himself into the sounds of Ingrid Michelson and Idina Menzel. For me, it was flipping the pages of The Gatekeepers: Inside the Admissions Process of a Premier College.

My son let me set the itinerary. We could only visit 6 or 7 schools, so I made the decision to tour schools of varying size located in suburban, urban and big city locations. This would allow me to gauge his interest in particular types of schools. One of the things they had in common is that they all had strong programs in his areas of interest: International Relations, Politics, Philosophy, Economics, Public Policy and Government. The other thing they had in common is that they are all spectacularly hard to get into. That last part wasn鈥檛 one of my criteria; it just turned out that way. Or, more accurately, I didn鈥檛 make an effort to balance safety, target and reach schools.

I was breaking the first rule of the college application process: manage your child鈥檚 expectations.

I wasn鈥檛 trying to communicate an unreasonably high level of expectations to my son, although it could certainly be seen that way. I was curious. Some group of researchers decided that these were the best schools in the country and lots of students appeared to agree with this conclusion. How else do you get such low acceptance rates? Besides, isn鈥檛 this an area where a gifted kid can dream big? After my husband and I had spent years finding outlets for his passions, was this really the time to tell our son that the admission odds are set against him and he should be more realistic? Without visiting these schools, they would just be names, spoken with reverence by his friends and their parents. He would not know if the fuss was justified until he experienced these mythical institutions, however superficially.

Luckily, the idea of attending an Ivy League college had already lost some of its luster by the time we left for the East Coast. My son had fallen in love two weeks earlier. The object of his affection is a liberal arts college in Southern California. The town, the campus, the classes and the flip flop wearing student body spoke to him. He now had the gold standard against which all other schools would be compared.

If my son felt pressured by my itinerary, he didn鈥檛 complain. In fact, he said that he would have been disappointed had I not taken him to these highly selective schools. He was not ready to inventory his shortcomings. He still wanted the chance to dream. So, bring it on Harvard. Let鈥檚 see if the tingly excitement brought on by an Ivy League name can compare to the warmth generated by the Southern California sun.

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