Some advices

1. Don't bet your money on the hope that these skills would help your kid into a good school. Go to any music class you will find it is flooded with Chinese kids. Very few have the really talent and even fewer will go far.

2. For a music starter education, I recommend 1-2 years piano. Kids at age 8 can well comprehend music notations and structures, thing she will then remember for the rest of her life. If she is still interested in music, you can get her started on violin or any other instrument.

For a kid to reach the level of state prize winner (most of them then go to music schools in college.) she has to play around 4 hours a day, if not more. To me, that't too much a luxury kids (and their parents) no longer have in this modern age; there are just too many things to do.

At this moment I am just teaching mine kids sight reading and chords to sing together.