Education is the power behind Kids Voting Mecklenburg!

Kids Voting offers students in kindergarten through high school a wide range of opportunities for civic learning. It is the combination of classroom instruction, family dialogue, and an authentic voting experience throughout a young person’s formative years that makes Kids Voting a powerful strategy for achieving long-term change in civic engagement and voting behavior.

Kids Voting's classroom programs include:

• Kids Voting USA Classroom Activities K-2, 3-5, 6-8 and 9-12
• Correlates to the NC Standard Course of Study in K-8 math, language arts and social studies plus high school World History, Civics & Economics and United States History
• Educator's Guides, vocabulary and age-specific reading lists
• Local curriculum guides
• Connections to civic education resources
• Opportunities for professional development, civic community activities
• Spanish-language student and family activities
• and MORE!

Kids Voting classroom activities are designed to facilitate primary and secondary school teachers in addressing civic learning objectives, especially those that relate to voting and elections, democracy, voting history and active citizenship. The resource is comprised of engaging activities that foster group discussion and the use of critical thinking skills.

The goals of Kids Voting classroom activities are for students to:

• Cultivate information-gathering and decision-making skills
• Integrate civics across the curriculum - including math, reading, writing and social studies
• Develop higher-order thinking skills
• Develop empathy towards others
• Gain a knowledge and appreciation of suffrage, democracy, citizenship, and elections
• Understand and participate in the direct voting process
• Achieve academic success

The activities are designed to emphasize self-discovery in a cooperative setting. This is effective because:

• Students master and retain knowledge and concepts better and develop problem-solving skills, creativity, verbal skills, and empathy — all of which are important for voters
• Group problem-solving provides a model of democracy

In sum, Kids Voting's resources for educators are designed to train students to live as thoughtful, active citizens in a democracy.