By all means, keep your eyes and ears open on behalf of this little girl. Let her know that you are available if she needs you for any reason. However, don't immediately think the worst of the mom. I admit that what you have described seems inappropriate but you MAY be hearing only a part of the situation. Children can be frustrating no matter how much we love them. I'm not saying a child ever deserves to be cursed at but every parent gets pushed to the edge sometimes and reacts out of anger rather than love. I know I've done it. What you might not be hearing are the quieter, calmer apologies/discussions that come afterwards. Again, I'm not saying this isn't a situation that warrants concern just that it is important not to jump to conclusions. Does the little girl seem well adjusted? Is it just homework that you hear these kinds of arguments about? If so, would you be willing to help the little girl with her homework to see if that would help? Homework has been a huge source of stress between my first grader and me. I've snapped once or twice over the course of the year and yelled at him inappropriately (we calmly discussed the situation afterwards, though, and I acknowledged my reaction was wrong and offered an apology). I doubt that anyone heard me yell but, if they had, what they wouldn't have known was that my son (who would not be described as anything but sweet, polite, bright, etc. by our neighbors) had been whining for more than an hour because he didn't want to do his homework, or that he'd been throwing his pencil at me, or wading his math worksheets up and throwing them on the floor, or refusing to sound out words and so on. And they wouldn't be aware of the problems he'd been having in school that might be creating frustration at home. My point is that even the sweetest kids in the world have their moments and you may only be hearing the mother's reaction after she's been continuously frustated by her daughter's behavior towards/in school. If homework is the usual source of stress it could be that they just need a mediator for that particular situation.
My mother had an abusive (physical and verbal) childhood so I am absolutely not trying to discount the situation. I've seen first had the damage that kind of parenting can cause and I believe it is noble of you to be concerned and willing to get involved if you have to. And, when children are involved it is always better to err on the side of caution (I'd rather report abuse that turned out to be nothing than ignore what might be a dangerous situation for the child). Still, if all you've heard is fighting over homework I wouldn't assume the worst.
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Hearing a little too much from the neighbors
