Ok this is separate from my thread about my son not wanting to go to preschool...but it's something that's been bothering me for a couple of weeks and I'd like to hear opinions on it.
One of the helpers at the place seems not to 'like' the kids very much, from that I mean she is pretty stern with them and seems to have trouble keeping her temper.
She can be nice enough and is usually OK, though she has been very abrupt to myself the times I've hung around with DS. It's possible it just comes across wrong, as she is not British and speaks with a heavy accent - perhaps she doesn't mean to sound like this, but I think it's more than that.
One incident worries me in particular.
Around half of the kids were sitting in the story room, while she led some nursery rhymes - seemingly quite reluctantly, boredly, and getting frustrated that not all of them were paying attention.
She reprimanded a little boy for giggling with his friends, first quite mildly, (all the kids were at it, they sensed her boredom) and then after he carried on (really NOT being naughty, just giggling) she leaned over, grabbed this one child, and dragged him over to sit beside her, saying, 'I warned you, you have to sit by me now, naughty boy' or something - really harshly. I was sitting in the room with another child on my lap, and was shocked to witness this apparent loss of control, coupled with singling out of a boy who was doing nothing that all the other kids weren't also doing. She seemed to pick on him as an example.
The kid in question was silent and looked shocked himself, didn't cry, I think he was too humiliated - and I had a strong urge to say something but held back as the kids would have been worried if two grown ups got into a wrangle! plus I'd no idea what to say.
She reminded me of myself when I'm on a short fuse with DS - yes, we all do it, but not to other people's kids, surely, when you're being paid to be patient and not grab them and drag them across the floor?
I don't know if I'm just oversensitive, but I would hate to think she might do this to my own son and cause him such shame, for behaviour that is entirely innocent for a child of three. I really like the little boy she picked on, and have the feeling she doesn't...could be wrong.
Any thoughts?