Complex sentence: Until she was about 6 1/2 years old, Cooke spent a lot of time in her father's shop, her mother didn't see the value in education and kept her out of school until then.
Split into simpler sentences: Until she was about 6 1/2 years old, Cooke spent a lot of time in her father's shop. Her mother saw little value in education and kept her out of school until then.