How Do You...Avoid Homeschool Burnout?

How do you avoid end of winter/early spring burnout when homeschooling?  And have you started planning next year's curriculum? 

{submitted by Michelle} 

We break our school year into two terms: August-December and February-May.  We began to structure our school year this way so that we could be off during the winter when Brian is in his off-season at work, but now I don't think I'd have it any other way!  It is refreshing to have a few weeks to re-group in the middle of the school year, right after the busy-ness of the Christmas season.

This year, I planned a few new things for when we began our second term in February.  We began studying a new artist (Winslow Homer).  We moved to a new era in history (World War I).  We began new memory work in Bible (the books of the New Testament).  This year, we even added a new subject for Gavin (spelling) and new workbooks for Benjamin. 

While not every family has the option of taking a big break in the middle of the year, anyone could throw a little fresh material into the mix to fight the winter blues. 

I don't have anything on paper for next year yet, but I'm always planning.  I'm organized by nature (perhaps too organized?) so I can't help thinking ahead to the next thing before I've even finished the first.  We've loved our Hymns for a Kid's Heart so much this year that we've already decided to do Christmas Carols for Kid's Heart next year (not just in December).  We've also decided to focus on stars during nature study next year because out here in the country we have an amazing view of the sky that we never had when we lived in town.  I'm pretty sure we'll finish up American history this year, too, so I'm exploring our options.  I'm considering The Mystery of History, but I'd welcome your opinions and experience. 

How do you avoid burnout?     Let us know in the comments! 
If you have a question for a future "How Do You...?" post, share that in the comments, too.