Polarization measurements of the prompt emission in gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) can provide diagnostic information for understanding the nature of the central engine. POLAR is a compact polarimeter dedicated to the polarization measurement of GRBs between 50 and 300 keV and is scheduled to be launched aboard the Chinese Space Laboratory around the year 2012. A preliminary Monte Carlo simulation has been accomplished to model the expected performance of POLAR while a prototype of POLAR is being constructed. The modulation factor, efficiency and effective area, background rates and minimum detectable polarization (MDP) were calculated for different detector configurations and trigger strategies. With the optimized detector configuration and trigger strategy and the total weight constraint of less than 30 kg, the primary science goal to determine whether most GRBs are strongly polarized can be achieved, and about 9 GRBs/yr can be detected with an MDP<10% for the conservative detector configuration.