A Personal Letter to Parents

from the author

Richard J. Maybury

Dear Parent,

"Do all you have agreed to do and, do not encroach on other persons or their property."

Did anyone ever teach you these 17 words?

If not, you aren't alone. Those two principles were once widely taught in McGuffey's Readers and other sources. They are the foundation of the ethical reasoning skills that make possible personal success, as well as civilization itself.

I was a public school teacher for four years, and my wife Samantha was for eight. We care about you and your child. We know the anxiety you are probably experiencing in these troubled times.

Since 1989, we have been producing easy-reading educational books for At-Home Schooling. Endorsed by U.S. Treasury Secretary William Simon and other leading lights, the books have won numerous awards, such as first place in the Government category of Mary Pride's 2018 Practical Homeschooling Reader Awards, and first place for High School Government and Economics in the Best of 2020 Teach Them Diligently Homeschool Family Favorites Guide.

You are trying to navigate parenthood without the compass

The 17 words are your compass, not only for the ethical reasoning system you need to teach your child, but for practically everything else in life that you do.

But today these two principles are practically unknown. In two Supreme Court rulings during the 1960s, teaching of ethics was banned from the public schools (but not private schools).

Today, in our so-called advanced society, ethical reasoning skills that were widely understood way back in the 1800s and 1900s have been nearly forgotten, and few teachers have ever heard of them.

The first rule is the basis of contract law, and the second is the basis of tort law and some criminal law.

Law?

Yes! America was founded on these "Natural Law" principles, which were the basis of the Declaration of Independence and Constitution, especially the Bill of Rights.

And ethics.

As far as we know, all civilizations worldwide for thousands of years have had as their ethical and legal foundations these 17 words, or something close to them.

At-Home Schooling gives you the opportunity to re-start your child's education with the most important thing she or he will ever learn: the system for practicing good ethical judgment.

I ask you, what is the point of teaching a child reading, writing and math if she or he does not first and foremost learn, for instance, how to make ethical friends, keep agreements, or recognize when good intentions are not enough?

This is what our 17-Word Solution™ Handbook is for—to teach the ethics—the two venerable laws and how to apply them—that have been forgotten since the 1960s.

The handbook is an easy two-hour read for someone with 8th grade skills.

Important: Every parent should read the handbook before beginning to teach the differences between right and wrong. The earlier you get a child started, the more easily it will be absorbed—when you know what you are doing.

Read the handbook now, and all your parenting will be forever easier. We know this because the 17 Words have been taught in my Uncle Eric books since 1992, and uncountable parents have told us their children were transformed by the reasoning ability they acquired from them.

Here's what you get

Ethics is not a list of rules. The 17-Word Solution™ Handbook teaches that it is a logical system of thinking, grounded in the 17 words.

Your child learns about all this and more:

• Humans are profoundly social creatures.

• Nearly all relationships are based on agreements.

• How you can prove scientifically the 17-Words work.

• Precautions when making personal and business agreements.

• What is ethical bedrock?

• The uncountable benefits of standing on ethical bedrock.

• What is Venerable Law?

• How to know if you are encroaching.

• The essential elements of an agreement.

• Why keeping one's word is so important.

• Why ethics and honor are crucial in a marriage or partnership.

• Why theft, even petty theft, is so harmful to everyone including the thief.

• The hidden economic reality behind your agreements.

• Why theft is the same as assault, and equally serious.

• Lying is a trap, it leads one into failure and misery.

• Honesty can be as rewarding as it is difficult.

• The critical importance of "all men are created equal."

• What is honor?

• Where did the 17 Words come from?

• How to use the two laws as tools in everyday life.

• What is Hornbook Law?

• Why highly important agreements should be in writing.

• The two possible ways economic activity can be organized.

• Be aware of the links in "chains of agreements."

• Why goldbricking is theft.

• Punctuality is more important than you might think.

• Ambient levels of encroachment.

• Money and property are frozen time.

• What is a right?

• The importance of the old saying "a man's home is his castle."

• Patents, trademarks and copyrights.

• Friendliness, politeness and rudeness.

• Why vulgarity and cursing are more damaging than you might think.

• The critical importance of restitution.

• The reasonable person doctrine.

• Negligence.

And much more, all in two hours of enlightening, enjoyable reading with plenty of easy-to-remember examples.

The 82-page 17-Word Solution Handbook is written entirely by me, in the same crystal clear style used in my award-winning Uncle Eric book series.

Please let me leave you with this

On TV you have seen waves of rioting, burning and looting.

Clearly, ethical reasoning skills have been so completely forgotten that, in our experience, a person who has these skills stands out like a lighthouse in a storm.

While others live in misery, stumbling from one dead end to another, a person dedicated to this venerable system has high quality friendships and romantic relationships, plus business and job opportunities galore.

What could you possibly teach your child that is more important than the system of ethical reasoning?

Wishing you all the best in these troubled times.

P.S. Right and wrong are not just matters of opinion. Lack of real ethics, of venerable principles, is America's biggest crisis. Help your family rise above it, by becoming part of the solution. If you don't teach them, who will?