Nessy "mad stars"

[4KookieKids]

We just started a Nessy subscriptions, and my youngest child (Kinder) gets really stressed out by the “mad stars” she gets whenever she does not pass an activity or game. She doesn’t mind not passing, itself, but she starts crying every time she sees the “mad star looking at [her] mean.” Any ideas on how to help her? We’ve talked about growth mindset and how she's young and still learning, even how the star isn't really mad and is just giving her a confused look, but it does not help. I would really like her to continue doing Nessy at least a few times a week, but we need to figure out how to deal with the mad stars. She is autistic and very sensitive. 

Edited July 9, 2020 by 4KookieKids

[PeterPan]

You could lie and say they're something else like HUNGRY stars. 

[4KookieKids]

2 hours ago, PeterPan said:

You could lie and say they're something else like HUNGRY stars. 

Not sure she'd buy it. She spent a full five minutes today telling my DS how mean the stars are when she gets something wrong, but it's worth a try! 😄 

Edited July 7, 2020 by 4KookieKids

[PeterPan]

You could hand her a donut and tell her they're HANGRY. 

No seriously, I have no clue. We ditched Nessy quickly because of the british accents, so I'm zilcho help.

[Guest]

Are they on a regular part of the screen, where you could put a post it over them? I had to do that with Red X's for one online program, years ago, because DD reacted like they were physically attacking her. 

 

DD loved the Nessy typing, but that one gave corrections to the sea monster, not mad stars-at least back when she did it. 

[4KookieKids]

11 hours ago, dmmetler said:

Are they on a regular part of the screen, where you could put a post it over them? I had to do that with Red X's for one online program, years ago, because DD reacted like they were physically attacking her. 

It's a good idea, but they're huge and sit right in the center of the screen!

[4KookieKids]

12 hours ago, CuriousMomof3 said:

I had to sign up for a Nessy free trial just to see those mad stars.  They're really mad.  Who would put them in a child's game?  

I'd commiserate with her.  Tell her that you agree that they look angry, and that you think that's weird.  Maybe help her write a letter of complaint.

Gosh, this made me laugh and gives some much needed levity to the situation (that's hard to say when you have a kid so furious with a program!) lol. We've been encouraging her to tell those dumb stars that she's still learning, and how else are you going to learn except to make mistakes? She does it (tells every mad star that she's still learning, so back off! lol), but I don't think it's helping!

[Terabith]

Holy cow!  Those mad stars are no joke!  There's no way I could have gotten Cat to continue playing after the first one of those.  I could legitimately imagine her having had nightmares about those.  What on earth were they thinking???

[Terabith]

Just now, CuriousMomof3 said:

Right? Who does that to children?  

Are they thinking that kids will be motivated by the mad stars in some way?  Kids aren't generally even particularly motivated by mad humans.   

Exactly.  It's horrible.

[4KookieKids]

1 hour ago, Æthelthryth the Texan said:

Which Nessy product are the mad stars on? We used Nessy reading before and those weren't a thing. Is this new, I wonder? I was considering re-upping our sub but I think the mad stars would be a pass. 

 

Definitely reading and spelling.

1 hour ago, CuriousMomof3 said:

I signed up for a Nessy subscription just so I could see the stars (I have too much time on my hands, and too few awake brain cells to do something productive).  I was on the "reading and spelling" game when I got one.  I got like a 20% (on purpose, do not fear for my students) on spelling words out of rocks so that monkey in a banana car could cross a bridge and chase awa a gorilla, and a mad star appeared.  It was alarmingly mad!

You get a mad star anytime you don't pass, but I *think* they get angrier the worse you do (so angrier on 2/10 than on 7/10, though both are unhappy).

53 minutes ago, Æthelthryth the Texan said:

That is new then- that game was there before, but no Angry Stars. OP I'd definitely email them and complain. It used to just be regular stars and if they didn't get enough they'd have to repeat the exercise. There was one with the freezer where they would shut the door if it wasn't right, but it was funny- not angry!! 

I think I will email them. I had to laugh reading all the posts on here about angry stars now, but it makes me feel better to know that other kids may have had similarly negative reactions to the angry stars, so it's not just my kiddo who is weird. lol

[4KookieKids]

I just did an experiment, and it turns out that 0/10 is the same star as 7/10 (when 8/10 is a pass), so it doesn't grade the stars even worse.) Silver and Gold stars must be for passing scores. And in case anyone else wants to see the angry star without signing up for a free trial, here it is:

 

[Arctic Bunny]

I don’t have a dog in this fight, but I feel like a cheerful “Try Again!” star would be better than this “Really? That’s all you’ve got?” star. Or just a plain bronze star. Or no star and a 3/10 or 8/10 or 10/10 that all look the same.

Or even better, what a previous poster said, about 3 stars for 3/10, 10 stars for 10/10 and collect as many stars as you can.