manual...my dad taught me and it has been an important skill for me.
Allowed me to help out, drive cars that others could not and also bragging rights to all the men/boys who talked trash, and believe me, they will/do.
My daughter drove a manual 93 toyota pickup in HS (her step dads old vehicle), she also told me several times how much trash talk occurred until the boys realized she could fend for herself in the vehicle arena.
I say manual, cheap, trade it in on something nicer after she has mastered it.
edit: I always felt too that, especially in winter weather, the manual gives you, as the driver, more control. I drove manual vehicles for a long long time before I had an auto for that reason alone. I was afraid the auto would drive me instead of the other way around...