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Much better in unstructured. I am extremely self motivated. I prefer to master things on my own and ask questions if I need to, so independent studies always worked for me. I would have done well in self-motivated unstructured environments growing up. In college if I have/had an amazing professor, I can learn very well, but if I have some slack job teacher or I am not challenged, I really resent the class!

I was in a gifted program in elementary and middle school that was very unstructured. I feel like it was really great asset. However, it was in place of the normal literature classes so I missed out on reading all the typical books on school reading lists. I feel a little out of the loop because I don't have that shared experience with my peers, but it isn't something I would change.

Unstructured in the sense of being allowed to choose my interests. I do much better focusing on one topic at a time, rather than the 5+ at all times that you get in school. But I enjoyed some aspects of having structure within the topic I'm learning about. I would have done very, very well with unschooling that a parent helped with when I didn't know where to go to learn more on a given subject. Hoping LO is like me so I can do that for our homeschooling.

@yoursilverlining: Unschooling does not mean what you seem to think it does, although because the term is quite confusing, the mistake is understandable and I made the same one initially. The term “unschooling” is also likely deliberately somewhat provocative; its coiner clearly felt that traditional school was an absurd way to acquire knowledge.

In any event, it does not mean "only do whatever the child wants to do." It is definitely not a perfect term, and there is not a single definition (which is by design), but the free-for-all image you have conjured is inaccurate. It is certainly possible to give a child a completely classical education, including all the fundamental skills that everyone gets in traditional school, in an unschooling manner. The point of unschooling is to eliminate the arbitrariness of school and to make learning more coherent.

The less structure the better with pretty much everything in my life.

I think that's why homeschooling worked so well for me. My mom let the personality traits and specific needs of each of us kids really dictate how each of us did school. She didn't impose a strict schedule on me and let my interests guide what we did, and I thrived!

I did well in a structured environment because I am a total rule-follower, but I also think it handicapped me - I learned how to "play the game," (good grades, decent college, lots of internships, good career) but I wonder how things might have turned out differently if I took more ownership of my own education instead of just doing what I was told.

To answer the question of the post, I think that structure is important for everyone, but there can be plenty of space between a structured education and a formalistic one. A highly structured education, in my view, is one that is premised on a logical progression from substantive topic to topic and a progressive development of skills. But there is there is a difference between a structured education and rigidly structured days and environments such as you see in traditional school. You don’t have to have the latter to achieve the former, and in some cases, rigidity is detrimental to the goal of learning and understanding.

I think that a child who is naturally inclined to obey rules should do very well in a structured, but significantly less rigid, environment. Schools (understandably) use a lot of external motivators that are not necessary in a family/homeschool/tutor situation, and eliminating many of those could be highly beneficial to a child who has an inclination to adhere to rules for the sake of adherence. I’m sure you will all do great! Like I said in the other thread, at this stage, it’s really about figuring out what works best for you and your family.

I like a balance. My optimal balance would be to have have a structure 2/3 of the day, 5 days a week during school and then say...2 weekend days off, weekday afternoons and evenings for unstructured learning! And a great deal of freedom within structure.