Puritan life in New England was centered around their strict religious beliefs. Everyone attended long church services on Sundays and faced punishment for any infractions. Small towns were tightly knit, centered around a common area, and people primarily bartered instead of using money. Men and women had distinct gender roles, with women handling domestic tasks like cooking, cleaning, and crafts while men farmed, hunted, and did manual labor. Children helped their families but also attended the important Puritan schools to learn to read from hornbooks.