[ddq]

Scouting is an interesting example because my experience included both ends of the scheduling vs. freedom spectrum. My first troop was all about the weekly meetings, merit badge classes, memorization, structured activities, and the like. Camping trips almost always had a specific goal, like hiking a certain trail or getting certain merit badges. My second troop was about going camping and making our own fun. Once the necessary duties were out of the way, we were pretty much left to our own devices and it was infinitely more rewarding, both as a kid and in my retrospective analysis. I learned so much more just figuring things out with the other boys, especially on the social development side.

[em-bee]

i was going to mention scouting somewhere in this thread for exactly that reason. we didn't have merit badges in the country where i grew up, and scouting was a lot more of less structured exploring of the outdoors or activities planned and organized by the kids themselves. and most importantly, parents were not involved.