Liberal, KS area---what is this like--dh has a job interview there next week

[Ottakee]

My dh has a job interview in Liberal,KS next week. We are from West Michigan so I assume this would be a huge change for us.

 

What is the homeschool climate in Kansas? Esp. for kids with special needs.

 

Weather---is it good for horseback riding? The girls and I have horses.

 

Anything else you want to tell me?

 

The flight schedule looks like he will go from our local airport to Detroit, then to Denver, then to Peublo and then to Liberty---doesn't look very direct to me at all.

[Hillary in KS]

What's the weather like? Windy. Windy. Windier than you've probably ever experienced before. Buy a hat. Or a scarf. Something.

 

We're in the opposite corner of the state, so I'm not sure what the area's like, other than it's windy and flat. I know people who have grown up there, and they love it. The summer storms would be spectacular!

 

Homeschooling in Kansas is pretty easy. You register your homeschool once, that's it. no need to do it again unless you move.You need to teach comparable subjects, and keep track of your hours. (There's a certain number of hours you've got to hit, depending upon the age of your child.)

 

There are a couple of homeschool groups in that area. One I know of is: "Southwest Kansas Christian Family Educators " There's no contact information on the state website, but if you click on this link you can e-mail them and ask how to contact this group.

 

We moved to Kansas from Wisconsin. It took a couple of years for us to fall in love with the state, but now we think of it as home!

[Remudamom]

I'm in Kansas too, and the laws are so easy I don't even know them. I thought you had to keep track of days, not hours!

[kalanamak]

I horseback rode 365 days a year in Kansas. My mother knit me a huge wool pullover with a hood that went over my helmet and flaps that went down over my legs. I also learned to bareback in the summer with only shorts on, and we went swimming in the cow ponds together. You'll want your hair short if you out a lot, to cope with the wind.

[Ottakee]

OK---it is windy there. I already have very short hair so that is not an issue.

 

How about heat and humidity? Are the summers really warm?

 

Here we think it is a heat wave in the spring when we hit 40 and get some sun. We had 10-12 feet of snow this past winter.

 

Homeschooling sounds doable as I had a teaching degree and dh is a certified teacher. The medical care in that area worries me a little. My girls have very rare mitochondrial disorders and see neurologists, endocrinologist, psychiatrists, mitochondrial specialists, nephrologists, cardiologists, opthamologists, and on and on. Right now we are 35 minutes from one of the top Children's Hospitals in Michigan.

 

If dh does get this job the kids and I would likely remain in Michigan for the first year as moving 3 special needs kids is a lot of work. There is also a highway scheduled to come through our current home so selling it would be hard.

 

My dh has a job interview in Liberal,KS next week. We are from West Michigan so I assume this would be a huge change for us.

 

What is the homeschool climate in Kansas? Esp. for kids with special needs.

 

Weather---is it good for horseback riding? The girls and I have horses.

 

Anything else you want to tell me?

 

The flight schedule looks like he will go from our local airport to Detroit, then to Denver, then to Peublo and then to Liberty---doesn't look very direct to me at all.

[Parabola]

OK---it is windy there. I already have very short hair so that is not an issue.

 

How about heat and humidity? Are the summers really warm?

 

Here we think it is a heat wave in the spring when we hit 40 and get some sun. We had 10-12 feet of snow this past winter.

 

Homeschooling sounds doable as I had a teaching degree and dh is a certified teacher. The medical care in that area worries me a little. My girls have very rare mitochondrial disorders and see neurologists, endocrinologist, psychiatrists, mitochondrial specialists, nephrologists, cardiologists, opthamologists, and on and on. Right now we are 35 minutes from one of the top Children's Hospitals in Michigan.

 

If dh does get this job the kids and I would likely remain in Michigan for the first year as moving 3 special needs kids is a lot of work. There is also a highway scheduled to come through our current home so selling it would be hard.

 

Is it hot in Kansas?? Is it humid in Kansas?? :lol:

 

As a native, the answers to both those questions is a resounding OH YES.

 

Summers regularly in the 90s, several 100 degree weather days. High humidity. Winters are dryer, probably regularly in the 30s and 40s, with lower extremes regularly. We used to get a lot of snow here, but its been pretty scant for 10 or so years now.

 

As the others said, Kansas has the easiest homeschooling laws. I sent in my form, and thats it. I've never been contacted at all, for anything.

 

There are good hospitals here. Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City is amazing. KU also has medical centers that have done great things for my sister who has Turners Syndrome, including experimental meds. Liberal though is way down south on the border, so I don't know what is going to be available to you there. Perhaps there would be something across the border in Oklahoma that would be of a help to your girls. But really, I'm not sure there would be anything close to you.

 

Good luck with your decision.

[Ottakee]

I asked about humidity as some said it was more arid. 95 and humid is a lot different than 95 and dry air.

 

My dh just got his travel confirmation. Now the decision is whether or not I buy a ticket and go with him or not. It would be $$$$ for my plane ticket to go but the hotel is paid and we would have use of the company car while there. It would be nice to go and see what might be. Then again the money would pay for dh and I to have almost 1 week of a more local vacation.

 

I am putting out feelers for sitters for next week.

 

I have not flown in 31 years and dh has not flown in over 25 years so this is a big deal for those of us that tend to keep our feet on the ground.

[Hillary in KS]

I asked about humidity as some said it was more arid. 95 and humid is a lot different than 95 and dry air.

 

 

I grew up in a desert climate. I was used to 110 degrees and no humidity in the summers. It's very hot, but you could cope with the heat. It's much more humid here, but I'm several hours away from Liberal. I also don't know how the humidity compares with Michigan's.

 

The medical issues would be a huge concern. The hospitals in Kansas City are good, but they're at least 5 hours away. I don't know about Wichita's hospitals, but even those are 2-3 hours away. Can you see what's over the border in Colorado or Oklahoma?

[Remudamom]

I grew up in a desert climate. I was used to 110 degrees and no humidity in the summers. It's very hot, but you could cope with the heat. It's much more humid here, but I'm several hours away from Liberal. I also don't know how the humidity compares with Michigan's.

 

The medical issues would be a huge concern. The hospitals in Kansas City are good, but they're at least 5 hours away. I don't know about Wichita's hospitals, but even those are 2-3 hours away. Can you see what's over the border in Colorado or Oklahoma?

 

I've got friends in Wichita, I'll ask.

[PrairieAir]

I think the hospitals in Wichita are pretty good. There are three large hospitals there. I know there are several illnesses for which some of the top doctors in the country are in Wichita. I know AIDS is one, but I can't remember what the others I've heard about are.

[MyThreeSons]

I've flown in to Liberal!! My Dad was originally from Garden City, KS. I haven't been there in 18 years.

 

Nothing to add, really. Except that KS isn't really just black and white, like it is at the beginning of The Wizard of Oz. I thought that was true when I was much younger. :001_smile:

[Ottakee]

This Wizard of Oz thing is interesting as the man that wrote the book, wrote it not far from where I live now. They have a yellow brick road there too--or at least they did when I was a child and we would bike there to see it with Grandma.