My DD has just finished preschool a few weeks ago. She was at a preschool which had a lovely physical environment, inside and out, a great staff ratio, awesome resources, and a very well behaved cohort of children. There were never any issues with more children wanting to do an activity than there was room for, because there were always so many quality activities laid out and while some where always the same (sandpit for example) others were changed regularly. They had a really excellent social/emotional development program and they had a slow steady approach to getting the children to learn school readiness skills such as participating well in group times, following instructions, etc.
However, 2 years of it was just way too much for my DD. Six months in the 3yr old program and then one year in the 4yr old program would have been fine for her. She didn't necessarily build any new academic or motor skills but she learned other things she did need for school and she was happy enough to go. The last 6 months was hellish.
Retrospectively I see two problems - one the teachers are well educated about child development and provided such a quality but "age appropriate" environment that they failed to see where children were able (needed) to be stretched beyond that. This was fine while the resources were new enough to be interesting but long term it was a problem. The second problem rested with my DD - she's happy and easy going, but also very strong willed and not at all a pleaser (don't ask me how that all fits into one bundle, but it does). The result is - if it's a pleasant happy place to go with good quality toys then sure she will go along happily enough and dig in the sandpit and dress up and drift along in her own imaginary land and maybe play with the other kids if that works out. But do NOT expect her to do teacher direct activities that are not really challenging enough, she'd rather just go do her own thing thanks very much.
Assuming that DeHe and I had children in the same preschool, my DD would choose "centre time" and self directed imaginative play over teacher directed developmental activities appropriate for a 4-5yr old (her age).
At home she will most often
Now my DD is not DYS level, well not on the testing we have anyway, and while I am expecting her to test a little higher when she is re-tested I am still not expecting her to shift too much, I am more thinking her FSIQ will land closer to her VCI (142). But I do think she is close enough that this difference in attitude to preschool compared to DeHe's description is a difference of personality and perhaps a variance in personal strengths rather than being strictly to do with LOG.
