Again, you are fixated on the "right" answer, from an adult perspective. You don't teach decimals and square roots in 3rd grade for the same reason you don't teach lift equations. They don't get anything from it. Look, I understand you are a concerned parent, and you said you are a scientist. But you don't seem to have studied education that much. Here is a good start:
http://www.amazon.com/Introduction-Early-Childhood-Education-Essa/dp/1428360530
I am not trying to insult you, I am trying to help you understand why this teacher is doing fine. Before I learned about this stuff I would have been with you. Now, after the MA and EdD I see why the teacher is doing what s/he is doing.