To really understand the developing child, we must look at them from both a physical and neurological perspective. Over one hundred years ago, Dr. Maria Montessori, the first female doctor in Italy, approached working with children in the same way. She initially began teaching children at an asylum how to read and write. When these children passed the same exam as the public school children, many commended the progress she made; she didn’t view it as such. Instead, she wondered why the happy, healthy children of the common schools were on such a low plane that they could be matched on tests of intelligence by the less fortunate students. As she stated, "similar methods applied to normal children would develop or set free their personality in a marvelous and surprising way."