PIEDMONT — A Piedmont family, the Leongs, will be featured on a new unscripted ABC television show, “The Parent Test,” which compares the parenting styles of 12 different families from around the country.
And the little girl who led the casting company to the Leongs is 6-year-old Juliette Leong, a prodigy with an IQ of 170 who teaches art to other children, whose paintings appear in international art shows, who gives violin performances at gala events and who will be a solo violinist at New York City’s Carnegie Hall. Ironically, Juliette will not be on the show, other than in clips of her interacting with her parents.
“They told us to get child care during the taping. We were surprised because Juliette is the reason they found us,” said her father, Jonathan Leong. “It was totally out of the blue when the casting agent out of Chicago called us.”
Apparently, the show’s casting agents follow social media and other online platforms to determine which parents to contact. The parents on the show come from different walks of life with disparate ideas on how to parent children, from spanking to indulging. The Leongs said they learned a lot participating in the show, which is the U.S. version of a successful show in Australia. The show’s hosts, Ali Wentworth and parent expert Dr. Adolph Brown, explore conflicting opinions on how to raise families.
“The show labeled the 12 families each as a certain anchored parenting style,” said Willa Leong, Juliette’s Leong’s mother. “So we all came on the show with a preconceived notion about each family. Some families were confrontational and accused us of pushing Juliette too hard. We explained that Juliette self-leads her own goals.
“Other than two hours of focused learning in home school, Juliette free-ranges for the rest of the day. But as we got to know the families, we learned to understand their parenting style as it applies to their children. We are so grateful to have met them and have become great friends with each (family). This is a very emotional show — lots of heavy topics and tears.”
Juliette handled the whole experience with aplomb, her parents said.
“She’s not only very, very smart, but emotionally mature as well,” said her mother.
The Leongs realized early on that they had an exceptional daughter, their only child.
“We knew she was smart. Before she was 1 she was singing songs. She could swim before she could walk. She was reading as a toddler,” Willa Leong said. “She started to play the violin at 3. She was at Montessori school in Oakland. I decided to get her tested. Then COVID hit. The school went online. I started to home school her. At 3 she started to paint pictures. Holy cow, she’s super-smart.”
Her father marvels at Juliette’s use of color in her paintings, which have led to generous purchases that Juliette donates to various nonprofits such as the Chinese Historical and Cultural Project, the Asian American Donor Program and several others.
A television crew of about 20 came to Leongs’ Piedmont home in May and spent about 10 days following the family around and giving them “challenges” to see how they would be handled. One example was convincing a young child to jump off a high diving board into a swimming pool. In the show’s preview episode, a father jumped first, then, with his support, his small son followed.
The Leongs said that was a difficult challenge for Juliette, who is a great swimmer but is tiny at just 36 pounds. They felt the high dive was too dangerous and a massive liability. Following the family visits, the Leongs traveled to studios in Burbank for filming with the other families for about 10 days. Everything was wrapped up in July, Jonathan Leong said.
While her parents were gone, Juliette kept busy with all her projects. She built robots, created chemistry experiments, wrote music and made doll houses. Her mother said Juliette puts fliers around the neighborhood offering art classes for children. Then that expanded to art classes for adults, in farmer’s markets and offices, Willa Leong said.
“Her work with color in her art is mind-boggling,” the girl’s father said.
Juliette is a typical child in many ways, though, building a maze for her rabbit, enjoying programs on television, celebrating birthdays and enjoying play dates with her friends.
“When we go to the park and I ask her what she would like to do there, she says ‘I’m here to make friends. Get their phone number.’ ”
Now that she’s the ripe age of 6, Juliette is learning algebra, which her mother had to brush up on to teach her. She also writes in cursive, a dying skill.
“She’s of kindergarten age, but she’s so advanced we’re just home schooling her,” mother said.
“We’ve been accused of pushing her too hard, but we don’t. She does things because she wants to and is so full of ideas. Her home school is two to three hours a day compared to six in regular school.
Jonathan Leong said that his daughter doesn’t like to practice her violin, on which she has performed many concerts, but loves to play it and that she’s a precise and accomplished performer.
“She feels comfortable behind a camera and has that performer’s sensibility,” the father said.
Juliette will be a study subject in a documentary series exploring genius. She also auditioned and was picked for a feature film shot in Colorado for which 220 kids were interviewed. While the families are sorting out their differences on television, Juliette will be baking 100 cookies for a charity bake sale, her father said.
“There are distinctly different parenting styles from free-range to intensive,” said the parenting show’s producers. “Twelve families are put under the microscope in the ultimate parent stress test, and will share about hot-button topics that compare multiple styles of parenting. Families are put through various situations to foster conversations about how each unit operates. The common goal is to raise happy, healthy children.”
Linda Davis is a longtime Piedmont correspondent. Contact her with news tips or comments at dlinda249@gmail.com.
FYI
What: ABC television’s “The Parent Test” (with a preview this week at 10 p.m. Thursday)
When: Thursdays at 9 p.m. starting Jan. 5
On Instagram: @parentTestABC
On Twitter: @parentTestABC
More info: julietteleong.com
