The subject of isn't a new one for 12-year-old Amy and her little brother, Maxwell, 10.
The young siblings, who participate in the new SBS series , are both - the world's largest and oldest high IQ society in the world. And while some would attribute their respective intelligence to a shared gene pool, their mother has a slightly different view.
- WATCH: Child Genius airs Monday to Wednesday nights on SBS at 8:30pm, with episodes available to stream anytime at .
“I’m a firm believer in nurture, I’ve decided," Larnie, a podiatrist, says in the show's second episode.
"I sometimes think if someone gave me their child and I brought that child up the way I brought my children up..." She pauses for a moment.
"Would they be of a higher level? I think they would.”
Larnie has become one of the breakout parent stars of Child Genius, possibly the closest thing to a 'tiger mum' on the show for nurturing two gifted children.
Larnie (left) and her family are 'red-y' to compete. Source: SBS
“Yeah, I am in it to win it,” she admits to camera in a dining room confessional. “I’ll give it a red-hot go.”
She continues: “I think I’m an extremely competitive person. But healthy competitive… you think?” She turns to her husband. Guy, who runs a logistics company, insists the pair wouldn’t be upset if Maxwell and Amy “bombed out”.
Despite her competitive nature, Larnie rejects the term 'tiger mum', preferring to call herself a 'snow leopard' - a reference, she says, to her secret teaching methods.
But how much does she think she has played a part in creating geniuses? Larnie clarifies to SBS in a phone interview: "I’ve tried to give the kids a foundation of sitting out of the box, not being a cookie cutter."
"I think so many parents are cookie cutters. If your kids are learning about camouflage, go out and garden, don’t just read a book. It’s about touch, it’s about seeing, it’s about hearing."
Recalling her own childhood, Larnie is convinced that being misunderstood hindered her ability to fulfill her own potential.
"I know I was different as a child," she says. "Different as in, I was the crazy kid sitting under the table building things with leaves.
"I can see that if I was directed a little bit more, if they could've seen my potential…"
She elaborates: "My parents were busy working all the time. I didn’t have what my kids have, my husband didn’t have that - but if we had been directed a bit more, who knows?"
She adds: "I'm a full-time working mum, but i really wanted to make sure the kids got as much as i could give them, while their minds were open to learning."
This, Larnie says, is why she suspects that she could raise other children to be smarter; her unique, hands-on and somewhat holistic approach to learning. She calls it her 'mind, body, spirit pyramid'.
"Physically, if you’re feeling sick and tired, you’re not going to be able to learn," Larnie explains.
"Spiritually, you need to be in a happy place. If you’re going to memorise something, you need to be happy and feeling good. You’ve got to stimulate the mind academically, keep a healthy body, and you need to be in a good place."
Amy, who dreams of one day becoming Prime Minister, believes her intellectual talent is a combination of nature and nurture.
"I think it definitely helps to start at a higher level," she tells SBS.
"It helps to have a good environment, but if you’re not going to put anything in you’re not going to get anything out — it's a combination, definitely."
Maxwell adds: "I think they're really conjoined, because you can’t learn anything without having the ground to work on, so I think a lot of it is how you've been taught.
"I like to think of brains as sponges," the aspiring inventor continues. "Sponges are how much potential you have, but the water is how much effort you put in."
The Sydney family’s competitive spirit is on full display in the Australian quiz show's second round, which focuses on mathematics, with the team of four standing out in their matching red uniforms.
'Child Genius' contestants Amy and Maxwell. Source: SBS
“We’re red-y,” Larnie says to camera, shortly before leading the family’s prayer circle.
“Get it? Red-y.”
The quiz show will be broadcast over two weeks, with new episodes this Monday to Wednesday at 7.30pm. Miss the first week's three episodes? You can stream them anytime at
