Okay-- I'm going to recommend that you take a BIG deep breath, remind yourself that your child is the same person that you've been parenting all this time (that is, YOU know him much better than any teacher or camp counselor possibly could)-- and then, for lack of a better way of phrasing this...
consider the SOURCE of that statement carefully, and take into account this person's perspective. Along the lines posted by 22B already-- maybe this person was saying "
I certainly don't know what to do with this child," and saving his/her own professional dignity by asserting that only a "college level" would suit (that is, completely understandable why s/he wouldn't be able to help you).
Recall firstly that MOST of the children that this person encounters
are not gifted. They are ideally bright, maybe slightly TigerParented kids... and depending upon where you live, maybe a LOT TigerParented.
So in the first place, Gifted Children may be outside of the norm for this person's experience. Okay, triple that when you're discussing a child who is HG+-- because they are that much rarer. Only people with considerable experience
will have encountered a child like this. That's to be expected.
When a THIRTY year educator in gifted ed tells you "I've never seen anything like it!" that is a very different statement from a college Ed major saying it, if you see what I mean. Camp teachers run the gamut, there-- so again, consider WHO made this statement to you. What context are they seeing your child in?
It's ALSO a very different thing when a teacher who has a teaching masters in a subject says this, versus someone with an early childhood endorsement, versus a PhD in the subject itself.
Often what teachers mean with statements like this is "beyond what I can offer." But what they may NOT be pointing out is that "what I can offer" isn't very high level to start with. Most teachers who work with kids in grades 4-12 can't
themselves manage more than a sophomore college level challenge in the subject matter at hand-- some of them
considerably less than that. I say that as someone who has seen a LOT of future high school chemistry teachers as "grad" students; most of them have a FAR weaker grasp on the subject than any of the regular Chem majors. So a child who has even a "late secondary" level need in the subject is going to seem pretty scary/freaky to such people, and probably make them feel inadequate to the task.
In short-- before you panic, consider that it is really unlikely that you need to completely retool everything that you've been doing for your child. Even among the kids in this community, TRULY being college-ready at your DS' age would be unusual. Now, INTEREST is another matter, of course, than true "readiness."
He almost certainly has needs beyond what 99% of his agemates do, and likely beyond what any "GT" camp aimed at regular gifted (and more likely, aimed at bright, high SES) kids is going to offer.
Some suggestions for activities where he can explore some of those interests--
* science museums-- check online and ask around for a good one near you-- think Exploratorium-like, hands-on places that offer workshops and lab classes.
* local university-- see if they have science programs for early secondary students. Many do-- but make sure that they aren't just fluff, first. There is "outreach" intended to maintain INTEREST in average-and-bright children, and then there is the hard core stuff that "average" students can't manage-- go after the latter, not the former.
* LEGO robotics.
