Help! My high-spirited DS1 is 3 and started pre-school 2 mornings a week in March. He was a little late with speech/language development but is catching up quickly and otherwise fine. He has been at pre-school for 7 weeks on his own with no problems...or so I thought. Last week the pre-school leader said we need to work on his social skills and asked me to sign a consent form for Early Years Action Plus. This came completely out of the blue with no discussion and seems very serious to me for a first line of action.
Teacher says DS1 will be playing nicely one minute and then might randomly throw sand/paint at other children for no obvious reason or hit them with a toy. Apparently he also snatches toys from others and pushes children out of the way. The teachers say they try to avoid it arising and give him suggested language to use instead of being so physical. They haven't done anything else to address his behaviour and seem cautious about telling him off and/or using time out etc.
DS1 has shown this kind of behaviour at home with younger siblings (non ID boy/girl twins 16mths), but has responded quickly to time out and positive attention - although it does still persist from time to time, mostly if he is either jealous, bored or ignored.
I would prefer the pre-school to allow time for us to tackle things together before escalating this. He has had a really busy year with the twins coming along, moving house and starting pre-school. Is this kind of behaviour normal for boys this age or could this be more serious and what should the pre-school be doing about it?
Help! I am completely confused about what to say to the pre-school after half-term.