Alphagetti; I think it's both! We have the two extremes of parenting these days. Those whose children are a burden, and get more tv time than face time with mom and dad. These parents definitely don't take the time to introduce the ideas of counting, colors, letters, etc.
And the hyper-parents who believe that the more your child is enrolled in, the better they (and hence the parents) are. Yikes.
I actually spoke with someone the other day about this. I have debated not sending my daughter to preschool, even though both my boys went. The preschool teacher I talked to said that all they really HOPE for (not even expect) is for the child to know their own name (not even write it), how to properly hold a writing instrument, counting up to 5 (not even 10!), and so on. And of course, being able to go to the bathroom independently, and dress themselves, put shoes on, etc.