To use iTunes you use the File sharing feature.
iOS: About File Sharing
It may not seem to work at first, but that is because there is one more step. After you use File Sharing to copy a file to the iPad, you still need to import it. Even native iWorks files have to be imported, since the iPad does not support all of the OS X iWorks features. To import the files, tap the plus icon like you are going to create a new document, then choose Copy from: iTunes. You will see a list of the files you shared. Select one to import.
BTW, this is a backdoor method of creating pseudo templates. You can also save/copy files to iTunes. When you do this they stay available (and unalterable) for re-importing at need; so long as you don't go to iTunes File Sharing and delete them.
Other popular methods are DropBox and Box.net. Both have free basic accounts.
Because you can set up a folder on your computer to stay in sync with your DropBox account, it is very easy to use it to import documents. You just open the document in the DropBox app on the iPad, and choose Open In... to copy it to the iWorks app. Unfortunately, in order to copy files back to DropBox you have to use round about methods, or pay for the DropDAV service. DropDAV lets you use the WebDAV option to connect to DropBox in your iWorks apps.
There is also mailtodropbox.com, which will give you an email address you can use to mail attachments to DropBox. It is not fast, and you can only send them to a special Attachment folder, but it's handy when nothing else will work. Almost all iPad apps offer email as a way to export content.
Box.net supports WebDAV, and works very nicely to share files with your iWorks apps. The free version does not however support (free) local file syncing with your computer. To get files to and from the computer with Box.net you either have to use the web interface, or you can mount their WebDav server as a drive. On the Mac this is pretty easy. You choose Connect to Server in the Go menu and enter "http://box.net/dav" (no quotes). You may have to sign in, so have your account info handy.
You've already said no iCloud, so I won't go into how that works.
